


Heavenly Witch

by orphan_account



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Magic, Drama, Light Angst, Love Triangles, Love at First Sight, M/M, Priestesses, Religion, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-24 17:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 31,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4927999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In small, religious towns, it's dangerous to be different - and, well, Yuugi Mutou has always been a bit odd. Antisocial, meek, polite; one wouldn't think that his disposition would draw attention. However, Yuugi manages to capture the attention of a prince! Can the two be happy, or will a pious, righteous, jealous priestess break them apart?</p><p>(Old fic, written years ago, posted on ff.net, polished/revised/edited and posted here in the hope that I can find a sequel writer.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: slash, mild/moderate Anzu bashing, whirlwind romance/love at first sight, very ambiguous setting, eventual background and largely irrelevant het pairing near the end.
> 
> While this story is complete, I originally intended for it to have a sequel. However, I grew out of the fandom and am posting this here in the hope that someone likes it enough to gift it with a sequel. Please let me know if you are interested.
> 
> Cross posted on ff.net under the username IlluminatedWord.
> 
> I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yuugi Mutou rushed around his house. It was just after dawn, and the streets were already getting crowded. He needed to get to the market before the groceries he required were snatched up by someone else.

Yuugi lived alone in his small house. He had to provide for himself, so there was always a lot of work to be done. Yuugi glanced out of the window and saw the wind throwing people's hair and clothes behind them. He grabbed a bandanna and wrapped it around his hair, like a bonnet, to keep it from becoming a tangled mess. He had particularly unusual hair. It was predominantly black, but faded into purple at the tips, and he had strange golden bangs. On the whole, it was nearly impossible to work with and always had a vague star shape. It looked even more unusual when wind-blown.

There was hardly a cloud in the sky that day, yet it was even windier outside than it had seemed at first. Yuugi stepped out onto the busy street, quickly slipping into an alleyway that he knew was safe - he'd used it as a shortcut to the market before, and it was always much less crowded than the main streets.

Just before he stepped out onto the next street, he suddenly stumbled. His arms flailed as he tried to prevent himself from falling over. He was able to regain his equilibrium just barley, but as he regained his balance, he noticed that his bandanna had come undone and flown off. His grandfather had given him that bandanna! He looked around and gasped when he saw it flying through the air, caught by the wind. He began chasing after it in a vain attempt to catch it. He almost yelped with joy when he say it slowly, slowly descending - into another's hands.

"I believe you dropped this?" the stranger inquired. He was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, which would make him a few years older than Yuugi. He wore a lot of jewelry—golden earrings, bracelets, rings, and a necklace. He was handsome, Yuugi supposed, and seemed kind, though Yuugi liked to avoid judging a person based on a first impression. He also looked strangely similar to Yuugi, though his skin was much tanner, and his eyes and hair tips were red instead of purple.

"Oh, yes!" Yuugi said, relief evident in his voice. "Thank you so much, Mister...?" Yuugi's voice trailed off in a question.

The man smiled. "Please, call me Atem," he answered, giving Yuugi back his bandanna. "Though to be precise, it is Prince Atem. And who might you be?"

Yuugi nearly gaped. He was speaking with a _prince_? Hell, he knew he hadn't lived in this town long, but surely a year was long enough to know the inhabitants of the town, especially when that included royalty! "Yuugi. Yuugi Mutou," he replied. Yuugi put the bandanna back around his hair. "I'm very grateful, sir. Thank you again. This was my grandfather's bandanna, you see. It's very special to me."

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you." With the slightest bow, Atem turned and continued walking the way he had been. As he did, Yuugi saw his free hair, almost identical to his own, flowing out behind him.

On Yuugi the hair looked silly and childish, making him seem younger than he really was. On Atem, the style seemed regal and masculine. Yuugi sighed; he was used to seeming immature, but was a poor first impression to make - running through the streets like a hooligan after a lost item. He turned back and continued steadily towards the market.

* * *

Atem was lost in thought. _Yuugi_...One short encounter with him, and the younger man already occupied his thoughts.

His mind wasn't on his legs, which had carried him further than he thought. He jerked when he realized he had reached his destination. Running a hand through his hair, he turned and walked up the steps into the town's church.

It was quiet inside. The sound of his footsteps reverberated around the room. Atem walked up to the altar to find another person already kneeling there. He shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to leave, but also not wanting to disturb the woman at the altar. He decided to take a seat on the front pew and bowed his head. Eventually, once the girl had presumably finished her prayer, she turned. She started when she saw Atem already there.

"Hello, Anzu," Atem greeted with a grin.

"Oh, hello Atem!" Anzu Mazaki was the daughter of the town's minister; it was no surprise that she was in the church. She was wearing her usual robe, with her short brown hair hanging freely around her shoulders. Her blue eyes were wide. "Is it May again already?" she asked.

Atem sighed. "Yes, I have come to light a candle for my father." He'd been going to the church on the 17th if May for the past six years to light a candle in memory of his father, Akhenamkhanen. He had been ruler in Egypt. After he had died, Atem had needed a break from the pressures and stress of ruling at the age of sixteen and moved away. He eventually realized that ruling was not his calling in life, and decided to stay in the same town as his quickest and best friend, Anzu.

"Of course." Anzu curtsied slightly and retreated into a room in the back of the church to give him some privacy. Atem walked up to the altar silently and lit a candle. He knelt for—he didn't know how long. An hour? Two?

But Atem did not cry. He was long past feeling much but an aching regret about his father's death. Sometimes though, when he came here...it would all surface again and Atem would break down. But he never let anybody see. He used to have to ask Anzu to leave, but she now did it out of courtesy.

Anzu came back into the sanctuary just as Atem was about to leave. She said, "I'm sorry," but Atem knew it was just formality. Anzu apologizing was as much of a tradition as lighting the candle was, at that point.

"But you do seem...lighter, somehow, Atem," she added.

Atem half-smiled. "Yes, I suppose I am. I met the most wonderful person today. Yuugi..."

"Yuugi?" There was something unreadable in Anzu's eyes, but it was quickly obscured as she giggled. "Ha, it only took you six years to make a new friend," she teased. "Come sit in the back with me for a while, Atem, and you can tell me more about Yuugi!"

* * *

While Atem was in the church, Yuugi was rushing to the market. Due to his stop, he'd been late, but the stall vendor had known what he would need and had set it aside for him. After all, Yuugi had come to him for all his essential groceries every week for almost the past year. Yuugi thanked him profusely. The vendor, Katsuya, was a rugged man with blonde hair. He was typically very nice to Yuugi.

"Oh," Katsuya said, waving the thanks away, "it's not a problem. Just glad I could help you out."

Yuugi returned home and gratefully stepped out of the wind. After bringing the groceries to his kitchen, Yuugi sat down in a chair in the main room.

_Atem_...Yuugi could do easily recall his face, hair, voice. Oh, he wished he had someone to confide his sudden feelings in! But he didn't have many friends, and none he would call "close."

But, Yuugi suddenly realized sadly, surely Atem was already taken; he wasn't unattractive or rude—he was kind and handsome. And even if he wasn't, why would he want Yuugi? The odd, antisocial, and decidedly _male_ Yuugi?

Still...if there was a chance, however slim,  that the older man wouldn't be averse to being around him, Yuugi was positive that he wouldn't be able to give up on Atem. He _couldn't._

_I wonder when I'll meet him again?_


	2. Chapter 2

"Hair similar to yours and amethyst eyes?" Anzu confirmed.

"Oh, yes." Atem seemed distracted. "But his hair is more delicate, softer - or, well, it looks like it would be. And his eyes, they're two beautiful jewels, framed by those gorgeous bangs... And he doesn't seem vain at all! He had the most discreet personality."

Anzu laughed. "I've heard that being so _attractive_ can point towards a witch," she half-joked.

Atem glanced at her sharply. "Don't even joke about things like that, Anzu! It's not funny." He stood. "Anyway, I must be going now. Goodbye, Anzu."

"Goodbye, Atem," she said as brightly as she could. Anzu looked down at her hands. _Who said I was joking?_ To her, this Yuugi sure sounded like a witch. After just one encounter with Atem, he seemed to have seduced him. She knew Atem hadn't explicitly said that he harbored any romantic feelings for Yuugi, but she could see it, clear as day. Anzu was certain it must have been some type of witchcraft, a spell of sorts, especially considering they were the same sex!  

Anzu knew all about witches; they sold their soul to the devil for beauty and allure, or fame and money. In the end, they were no better than demons themselves. The fact that Atem seemed obsessed with the boy and his unnatural beauty only proved her point.

The witch had tricked Atem.

Anzu saw her reflection in a mirror across the room. She knew she was plain. But she'd been trying for Atem's heart for years! They had known each other since he'd moved into town permanently! Even the five year gap in their ages shouldn't matter! So what if she was seventeen? She was mature and held an adult's position in the church!

But that witch...that witch had stolen Atem from here! Her hands gripped the legs of her robes. Yes. That Yuugi must be a witch...Anzu gasped. She had to warn Atem before the witch seduced him completely! Who knew what the boy would do with Atem? Sacrifice him? Keep him locked up? Defile him?

As she came into the sanctuary, Anzu pulled out a metal cross she kept on a chain around her neck out from under her robes. She clutched it tightly in her hand. _A witch has no soul_ , she thought. _No better than a a demon. And by driving a demon out, I'm only doing God's will...I'm only doing what is right. Atem will thank me once this is all over with._

* * *

Two days later, sometime after lunch Yuugi was out wandering the town. Well, truthfully, he was trying to see if he could find Atem again. It had been a couple of days since they'd met, and Yuugi was anxious to see him again.

Suddenly, he did. Yuugi barely contained himself from running and jumping at him. Instead, he walked swiftly and purposely by him, looking straight ahead.

After he had walked a few steps, he heard Atem gasp slightly. "Oh, Yuugi!" He reached out to grasp the younger man's shoulder.

Yuugi spun around, feigning surprise. "Oh! Hello, Prince Atem!"

He smiled. "No, I insist you call me Atem, just Atem. We are friends, after all."

"Alright, Atem it is then." Yuugi grinned and giggled. "Would you care to go for a walk? It's such a lovely day, isn't it?"

Atem smiled, managing to seem flirtatious and gentlemanly at the same time. "Oh, I see something even more lovely."

Yuugi blushed as Atem took his arm, and the pair walked around the town. They stopped at many places. Atem offered to by Yuugi almost anything he so much as looked at. He refused them all, but one. It was an Egyptian necklace. It was a beautiful golden pendant, shaped like an eye.

Yuugi went over to the stall and picked it up delicately.

"It suits you," Atem said from behind him. "The Eye of Horus. It's a protection symbol. Would you like it?"

Yuugi shook his head, slowly setting it back down. "No, it's fine, I don't need—"

"But do you like it?" Atem insisted.

Yuugi nodded. "Well, yes, but—"

Atem bought him the necklace. Yuugi wore it as they continued walking around.

When the sun was close to setting, Atem asked if Yuugi was ready to go home. Yuugi didn't want the day to end, but he knew it must. He smiled up at Atem. "That would be fine. Do you remember the alley where we first met? I live right on the other side of it."

Atem nodded, heading that way. They all too soon arrived at Yuugi's doorstep. Yuugi looked at Atem and smiled brightly. "Thank you for the wonderful day. I hope to see you again soon."

Yuugi blushed when Atem grabbed his hand and gently kissed it. "No, thank you. And how about we meet up tomorrow in the park, at noon?"

"That would be great!" Yuugi beamed. "See you then, Atem!" Yuugi suddenly grabbed the older man and pulled him in for a hug. Atem immediately hugged back, and they stayed like that for a minute until Yuugi pulled back. "Sorry," Yuugi mumbled, suddenly shy. He knew many people didn't like physical contact, but he was a very tactile person.

But Atem just smiled and lightly kissed the boy's cheek, cupping his face delicately. Yuugi's face heated up even more. Atem pulled back and winked. "Tomorrow, then."

Yuugi stood, leaning against his doorway until he could breathe normally again. He went back inside, not seeing the figure standing in the shadows.

* * *

Anzu had seen the whole thing. Not just the... _incident_...at the end. She'd seen the whole date.

Anzu had been looking for Atem when she saw him run into Yuugi.

_No,_ she reminded herself _, the witch. His name, beauty, and personality are all fake. He's nothing but an unholy spirit._ She knew she couldn't leave Atem alone with the witch; she had to be able to run in if something looked suspicious.

She scowled as the witch got Atem to buy him a necklace. It was obviously gold—how much did that thing cost? And just how much was the prince blinded by the witch's glamour? He kept staring at Yuugi with a look in his eyes that Anzu didn't like one bit. He would smile at the smaller boy, laughing and joking with him. The witch acted innocent and besotted, as well.

Fake, Anzu knew. An act. It was all a part of his childish, naive appearance. He just tried to make himself seem harmless and innocent, with that and his short frame and wide eyes. And those eyes! They enraged her! How could Atem not see their sinful intents? The witch was seducing him, she knew it! There was no other explanation, and besides, she would get proof. She would get evidence, incriminate the witch, and make him repent for such grievous sins.

* * *

Yuugi got ready for bed, still smiling like an idiot. Atem had kissed him! The prince had cupped his cheek and...Yuugi gently touched his face. He could still feel those soft lips...

He lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow, they would see each other again. Would Atem kiss him again? Or had it been a one-time thing? Had the whole date been a one-time thing?

No, Yuugi told himself sternly. Atem was an honest person. He wouldn't have lied about a second date, and he wouldn't have offered if he didn't want it.

Yuugi drifted off to sleep, thinking of what the next day would bring.

* * *

Atem sat in his bed, bare-chested. He was thinking about what he had done outside Yuugi's door.

Had he been too straightforward? Yuugi had hugged him, but that was far from an invitation to kiss him! Then again, it hadn't even been on the lips. He'd just kissed his cheek. But it was still a kiss. Plus, afterwards, he had winked. _Winked_! Like he was...promiscuous! And flirty! He most certainly was _not_ flirty. He didn't do those things with girls, so why had he done them with Yuugi?

And that was the heart of the matter, wasn't it? He didn't know _why_ ; he'd just done it.

He tossed and turned, but eventually fell asleep, still feeling Yuugi's warm cheeks against his hand and lips.


	3. Chapter 3

"A date?" Anzu said. "Today?"

"Yes," Atem said. "Sorry I have to cut your visit short, but I don't want to be late."

Anzu had come over to Atem's house to check up on him. She was trying to work up the nerve to break the news to Atem that the one he thought he was in love with was really a witch. She had no idea how she was going to do it, but she knew it had to be done.

Atem stood, and so did Anzu. _I need more evidence before I do, otherwise he'll just disregard everything I say!_ she decided. _I'll keep an eye on Yuugi, though, to see if he does anything suspicious._

"Goodbye then, Atem. Have fun on your...date." Anzu was torn. She knew she probably should warn him now, but he'd just ignore her. It was time for her to do some investigating.

She walked out of Atem's house and to the church. She didn't live in the church, though; there was a house right next to it where she lived with her father.

She peeked through the door, and breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw her father wasn't home. She went into her room to change out of her robes. She tossed them on her bed and studied them as she got changed into something more comfortable.

She believed in the Lord. She loved the Lord, and she loved doing His work. But...she didn't want to be a priestess; she wanted to be a dancer. Sure, she knew that the few dancers there were got scorned by society. Floozy, slut - dancer. A priestess, however, commanded a lot of respect. And it would definitely cause quite the scandal if the daughter of the town's most respected father was so much as seen dancing.

Anzu didn't care what others thought! She loved to dance. When she had first met Atem, he had caught her dancing in the back room of the church. When he found out she wasn't supposed to be, he had promised not to tell. "But," he'd said sincerely, "you are one of the best dancers I've ever seen." After that, she quickly fell for him. He was the only person who'd ever supported her, after all. Even her own father was disappointed with her at the best of times, and her other female best friend thought it was silly. Atem was the only person she felt like she could be open with.

And now, this _Yuugi_...tears of anger stung the back of her eyes. That witch would take away the only good thing she'd ever had! And she was determined to get him back, no matter what.

* * *

Yuugi was excited. He had waited impatiently all day until just before noon. He put on the necklace Atem had bought for him and headed out the door. He quickly made his way through the midday crowds, getting jostled all the way. He took as many back-ways and short cuts as he could find. He soon arrived at the park. There were couples together everywhere, groups sitting around, and even some single people out, enjoying the day. He didn't see Atem anywhere, causing a spike of worry to shoot through him, but he calmed himself down, and went to sit under a shady tree where he had a good view of most of the park.

"Comfortable?" a voice suddenly asked. Yuugi jumped up in surprise and spun around. He smiled back at the grinning face that had sneaked up behind him.

"Oh! Hello, Atem. You startled me," Yuugi admitted.

Atem frowned. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't scare you too much?"

"No, no," Yuugi assured him. "I was just surprised. I didn't expect you to come up behind me like that."

Atem laughed. "I'll make sure not to next time." He held out an arm. "Let's take a walk, shall we?" Yuugi shyly took the offered arm, and they started walking around in silence.

Finally, Yuugi said something. He wasn't sure how to approach the topic, so he just came right out and asked, "Atem, is there any woman you are...er...interested in?"

To his surprise, Atem sighed. "No, Yuugi. There was one, long ago. I thought I loved her. But she lied. She led me on. When I found out she was having an affair with me, I left. Soon afterwards, my father died. It was too much, so I moved here. I do have some females that I consider myself friends with. My closest friend is a woman. But...I can no longer trust one with my heart." Yuugi stared at Atem in shock. He hadn't expected that. Atem suddenly smiled at him. "But that doesn't mean I don't believe I can find love."

Yuugi blushed. "I...I'm sorry all that happened to you. I didn't know; I wouldn't have asked."

Atem laughed again. "No, you had to ask, otherwise you would never have known. I won't get mad at you for being curious." He pulled Yuugi closer. "What about you? Do you have a love interest?"

Yuugi shook his head. "Not really, no. I actually don't even have that many friends." He ducked his head shyly.

Atem looked confused. "But why not? You're very kind and handsome."

Yuugi shrugged self-consciously. "I don't get out that much. And people used to pick on me because I was small and weak. I have a few friends, but for the most part I keep to myself."

"So...no lover?" Atem asked. Yuugi shook his head, making his hair flop funnily. "But surely there must be some lucky lady who has caught your eye!" Atem pushed.

Yuugi was confused. Did Atem _want_ him to be taken? Did he only like Yuugi as a friend? He seemed to be flirting, but was Yuugi misunderstanding the gestures?

"I...I'm sorry," Atem said, seeing Yuugi's discomfort. "I just assumed. And...and if you already had someone, I wanted to apologize in case my behavior yesterday seemed out of place."

"Oh!" Yuugi squeaked. "No, I didn't mind at all!" He stuttered, "I-I mean, I didn't think it was out of place-" he cleared his throat and turned away. "Um..."

Atem laughed in relief. He grabbed Yuugi's chin and turned the boy's face to his own. He smiled. "I didn't mean to pry. And if you didn't think it was out of place, then what is your take on men?" _On me?_

Yuugi's face was on fire. He definitely wasn't misunderstanding _this_. He pulled back a bit so his bangs covered his eyes. "Ah...I don't think I've ever really thought about it. Much. Maybe a little. I've never really had a reason to," he finished quietly.

Atem, still standing very close to him, suddenly grabbed Yuugi's arm. He grinned slyly. "Come on. Let's go somewhere a bit more...private."

Yuugi followed him out of the park, away from the eyes that were watching them strangely.

Atem started to lead Yuugi down a path, but then abruptly veered off it. He pushed through a small break in a hedge of bushes. They walked for a minute, until the foliage cleared. Yuugi gasped.

There was a small pond surrounded by flowers and trees. You could see sunlight streaming through the trees, tinted green. The pond was covered in moss, and you could hear frogs and crickets. There were tiny bugs flying everywhere, along with some bigger bugs. It was quiet, yet loud. You could hear the animals and the wind whispering quietly.

Yuugi thought it was amazing.

Atem showed him to a large overgrown stump. He leaned against it and pulled Yuugi down on top of him. Yuugi looked around. "How did you find this place?" He turned his head and moved off Atem a bit so he could look him in the eye.

Atem had his arms behind his head. He breathed in deeply, content. "I was just wandering around one day. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. There's another way to get here," he explained. "It's a lot longer though, around on the other side of the hedge. It's not as overgrown, so I barely even noticed I wasn't in town anymore before I got here."

Yuugi nodded. "It's really pretty here."

Atem smiled softly. "Yes. Natural beauty." He looked at Yuugi and put an arm around him. "Though I see two very beautiful things."

Yuugi giggled, unused to such a compliment. He laid his head on Atem's chest, hearing his heart beat. Atem laid his head back and draped a casual arm over Yuugi. The two stayed like that for quite some time; not speaking, just enjoying the company of the other person.

* * *

Anzu had no idea where to start; sure, she knew where Yuugi lived, but it wasn't like she could just search his house!

It was great not wearing her robes out in public. She didn't like the way they felt; as if they were restricting her movement, her choice.

She decided to check with the stall vendor who had sold Atem the necklace. She made her way to the market, and quickly found who she was looking for. She walked up to the man. He had tan skin and short, brown hair. "Hello, sir. Honda, isn't it?"

The man, Honda, nodded. "Yes, ma'am. What can I do for you?"

"I believe you made a sale yesterday? A golden, eye-shaped necklace to two men who shared a strange resemblance?"

Honda looked baffled. "Look, I can't help you if you're trying to stalk someone-"

"I'm not stalking him," Anzu explained. "I just need to get some information on one of them. The smaller, paler one. Yuugi. Do you know him?"

Honda rubbed his chin thoughtfully and nodded, then began talking slowly. "Yes, I do. Nice kid. He's always real polite, but never really gets the chance to shop at my stall. Doesn't seem to be the richest man."

"Yes, but have you ever noticed anything...peculiar about him?" she asked.

Honda tilted his head. "We'll, he doesn't seem to have many companions. Unusually independent as far as I can tell, as he doesn't seem to be living with anyone. Rarely comes out unless he has to. I was surprised when I saw him with his new friend yesterday."

Anzu nodded. "Thank you." She quickly hurried away, not noticing the perplexed look Honda was giving her.

_A recluse?_ she mused as she headed back home. _Definitely something. Lives alone? I wonder what he does in his free time?_ She arrived home and pushed open the door, to see her father sitting in the living room. He knew she'd gone out without her robes. Oh no...

Mr. Mazaki turned and looked at his daughter in disappointment. "I trust you haven't been...you know?"

Anzu pursed her lips, irritated. "Of course not, father. I just went out for a stroll. I thought I would be more comfortable in some relatively casual clothing."

The man scoffed. "Oh, come now. That attire is very unbecoming of a priestess! We can't have you seen in that; what would people think of you then?" Anzu was about to say she really didn't care, when he continued, "Nothing good, that's for sure! You come from a well-respected family, Anzu! You mustn't tarnish our name! You have to carry on my legacy, as I have no other children to do it since your mother left us alone for some other..." He cleared his throat and scowled. "If you had just been a boy, we wouldn't be having this problem, now would we?" He said it like it was her fault. He stalked off, still muttering.

Anzu went to lie on her bed. She smiled sadly. If she'd been a boy, she wouldn't be having the problem with Atem and Yuugi.

She blinked. Or would she?

* * *

Yuugi suddenly woke up. He hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep! He noticed the sun was near setting, the clouds in the sky making it seem darker than it was, and craned his neck to look at Atem.

"Did I wake you?" Atem asked.

Yuugi shook his head. "No. How long have we been out here?"

Atem shrugged nonchalantly. "A few hours? Maybe a little longer? Does it really matter?"

Yuugi rolled his eyes. "That means I haven't eaten since lunch. I still need to get home."

Atem had an idea. "Why don't you just come over to my house for dinner? You'll have to wait while I fix it, but I'm not terrible in the kitchen, if I do say so myself."

Yuugi sat up excitedly. "Could I really? You wouldn't mind?"

Atem chuckled, getting up too. "Of course not, Yuugi." He held out a hand and helped the younger man up. Yuugi, coming up too fast, got a little dizzy and fell forward onto Atem. He gasped and tried to pull back but Atem held onto him. He grinned and kissed Yuugi's nose before letting him go and holding out an arm.

Yuugi took it as Atem led the way to his house. Atem had kissed him...again! That was twice! He touched his nose and blushed as they left the pond behind. _I wonder what he has planned for dinner?_ Yuugi thought. He mentally slapped himself for his next thought, and glanced away from Atem. _I wonder what he has planned for dessert?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pansexual atem ftw


	4. Chapter 4

Atem lived alone, near the edge of town. He had a fairly large house—bigger than Yuugi's, at least. There was a stone-laden path that branched off from the road and lead up to the doorway. The house itself was a white-grey color (or perhaps that was just the lighting), with a big door and a few tall windows. Atem led Yuugi inside. The front room was cozy, with worn wooden floors and two comfortable-looking rocking chairs. There was one bench in front of the fireplace, and a rug between them.

Atem turned his attention to Yuugi. "Take a seat anywhere; it will be a while before dinner is ready. You're free to look around, be it inside or outside the house, though I think there's rain coming soon." He bent over and kissed Yuugi's hand. "I'll come find you when it's done."

Yuugi nodded, and went to sit on the bench as Atem went into his kitchen. He glanced down at the floor where the rug  lay. It was lovingly woven and showcased a gorgeous pattern. There was a day side and a night side. The day side had a figure, perhaps a girl, running with her hair streaming behind her and her arms by her sides, gliding through yellows, oranges, reds, and pinks, with white accents. The night side had another figure, presumably a boy, standing serenely in a beam of moonlight. There were dark blues, purples, greens, grays, and black. There were clouds in both scenes, but the night side appeared to have storm clouds.

Yuugi stared at it for some time. He thought it was amazing, and beautifully woven. Had Atem done it himself, or had he bought it? It looked like it'd be expensive. He'd be sure to ask.

Yuugi looked around the room again. Sunlight, reddish now, streamed through the west-facing windows. There was one doorway that Atem had gone through; Yuugi guessed it led to the kitchen. There was also another door that opened to reveal a closet. On the other side of the room, a staircase went up.

Yuugi walked over to it. Atem had said he was free to explore, after all. He started up before he lost his nerve.

There was a long hallway. There were three doors, with the first one on his left. He tried the handle, and went in.

It was a small, comfortable room. There was a small bed in the corner. It was sparsely decorated, with a bedside table, a chair, and a dresser being the only other furniture. A rectangular window let in the quickly fading light from outside. Yuugi guessed it was the guest room.

He walked back out, closing the door behind him. He continued down the hallway, until he came to the door on his right. The doorknob stuck a bit, as if it hadn't been used recently. Yuugi pushed, and the door sprung open.

It was a den-like area. The room was shadowed, but Yuugi could see that it had games and puzzles on the floor. He walked in, and turned on an oil lamp he saw in the corner. It showed a few chairs and rugs covering the floor. There was a shelf with games on the top. The puzzles on the floor showed different states of completion.

After looking over the room for a moment, Yuugi turned off the lamp and went back into the hallway. The last door was on the end of the hallway. He opened the door to see a room much bigger than the previous two. There were windows on both sides of the room, so it had a ray of light going through the middle of the room that was getting darker by the moment. Yuugi glanced over and saw that the clouds that had been gathering in the sky had definitely gotten darker. He frowned, but turned his attention back to the room.

A bed, with a quilt on top, sat in the middle of the far wall. Yuugi moved towards it and ran a hand over it lightly. It was very soft. A nightstand was adorned with an oil lamp and a candle. A dresser, larger than the one in the other bedroom, was pushed up against the wall. Yuugi inferred that it was Atem's bedroom. He turned to go back downstairs.

He squeaked when he saw Atem standing in the doorway. Atem chuckled. "Sorry. I promised I wouldn't do that anymore."

Yuugi smiled. "It's fine. I just didn't hear you come up." He started to move towards Atem. "Is dinner ready?" Atem nodded. He waited on Yuugi, and the pair descended the stairs together.

They went through the door to the kitchen. Atem had set a table for two. He had a loaf of bread already cut, and a bowl of stew in front of each of the two chairs.

Atem pulled out one of the chairs for Yuugi, grinning. Yuugi giggled and sat down. Atem went around to the other side of the table and took his seat as well. He offered Yuugi some bread. The young man took a slice, and tried it.

"Do you like it?" Atem asked. "I've only been cooking for myself for a while now, so I could have just become immune if it tastes bad."

Yuugi grinned. "No, I think it tastes just fine." He _hmm_ 'ed. "And I meant to ask you, did you weave the rug on the floor near the fireplace?"

Atem nodded. "Yes, my mother taught me how to weave since she never had a daughter." Seeing the question in Yuugi's eyes, he explained, "My mother died when I was thirteen. She had a weak heart. And no, no siblings."

"Oh," Yuugi said, unsure how to continue the conversation. He tasted the stew, finding it to be amazing. He finally said, "She taught you well. It's a very nice rug."

Atem smiled and patted Yuugi's hand. "Thank you. That means a lot."

The two ate in silence for a minute until Atem said, "Well, you know quite a bit about me. Tell me about yourself."

"I live alone," Yuugi started after taking a moment to gather his thoughts. "I used to live with my grandfather, but he passed away. It was peaceful, though, in his sleep. I never knew my father; he left when I was young. For a time, it was just me, my mother, and my grandfather. My mother moved away not too long ago, just before my grandfather died. I never found out why. I don't have any siblings either."

Atem nodded. He suddenly grinned. "We're both just alone, aren't we?" Yuugi looked ready to protest, but Atem anticipated his question. "Fewer friends than you might think. I'm well-known, but I don't have very many friends, aside from Anzu."

Atem stood up. He walked to the kitchen and brought back over a plate. It had a large piece of pie on it. The flaky crust was powdered with sugar, and inside warm cherry filling oozed. Yuugi's questions about Atem's friend died in his throat at the sight of it.

"Did you make that yourself?" Yuugi asked. Atem nodded. He set the pie between them, giving Yuugi a fork. Yuugi tried a bite. "Mmm," he complimented with his mouth full.

Atem laughed. "Glad you like it." They both ate until the pie was gone.

Atem grinned and reached across the table. His thumb brushed against Yuugi's cheek, right next to his mouth. Yuugi blushed. Atem brought his hand back and licked his thumb. "You had some cherry."

Thunder suddenly rumbled outside. Yuugi jumped, squealing. Atem looked at him, worried. Yuugi glanced away, embarrassed. "Sorry," he said. "I...I don't really like thunder storms."

Atem only then noticed the rain pounding against the house. "Well, you must stay here for the night then. I definitely wouldn't let you go out in that kind of weather."

Yuugi smiled at him in relief, still tense. "Oh, thank you Atem! You're just too kind. First dinner, then a place to stay for the night. I must be such a bother."

Atem laughed and started picking up the empty dishes. "No, you're not. Anytime you need anything, I'll be happy to help you out as best I can."

Yuugi looked at him. "Really, I'm very grateful. Is there anything I can do to help out?"

Atem shook his head. "No, I've got it. You know where the guest room is? You can sleep there. And you can grab something to sleep in from my dresser. It might be a bit big, though."

Yuugi nodded, moving upstairs. He yelped when another clap of thunder sounded. He hurried to Atem's room. He checked the dresser, and grabbed out a long nightshirt and a pair of loose-fitting pants.

In the guest room, he turned on the oil lamp and changed his clothes. He yawned, crawling into the bed. A knock on the door startled him. "Yes?"

"Can I come in?" a muffled voice asked.

"Yeah," Yuugi called back. Atem came into the room, shirtless. Yuugi tried not to stare, failing miserably. His chest was muscled and tan, Yuugi noticed.

Atem noticed him staring and rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "Ah, yeah. I usually don't sleep in a shirt."

"Oh," Yuugi said. "That's-" he broke off, pulling the covers to his chin as thunder echoed through the house again.

Atem frowned at him, moving closer. "Are you going to be alright?"

"S-sure," he said. "I mean, I know it can't hurt me, but it can still scare me."

Atem came over and sat on the edge of the bed. He rubbed Yuugi's arm soothingly. "I'm sorry it scares you." He gently kissed Yuugi's forehead. "Will you be okay alone?"

Yuugi blushed. _How many times is that now?_ "I think so." They saw a flash of light, quickly followed by a loud rumble. Yuugi burrowed even farther under the covers.

Atem sighed. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather sleep with me?"

Yuugi turned redder, though Atem couldn't see. "I-I'm sure I'll be f-fine. You don't have to offer that."

Atem looked at him and smiled. "If it would make you feel better, I'll gladly let you sleep with me."

"I-if you're s-sure you wouldn't mind..." With only a slight smile of exasperation, Atem took Yuugi by the hand and led him to the guest room. Once there, he dropped his hand and went around to the right side of the bed, so Yuugi moved to the left. Yuugi got comfortable under the covers, moving so he wasn't touching Atem.

Atem seemed to quickly fall asleep, for his breathing was steady, but he still rolled around quite a bit—until his and Yuugi's feet were touching. Yuugi didn't move. The constant pattering of rain against the window was keeping him awake.

He'd almost drifted off when one last stubborn rumble of thunder scared him back awake. Heart pounding from being abruptly jerked back to consciousness, he moved to the closest thing for comfort, Atem. He latched onto the other person, not thinking. He wrapped one leg around his, and put his arms and head into his chest.

Atem shifted slightly, and draped a comforting arm over Yuugi. He breathed in deeply. "Are you okay, Yuugi?"

"Yes," Yuugi whispered. "It was just unexpected."

Atem kissed the top of his head and started singing softly. A lullaby, one Yuugi had never heard. He had obviously changed a few of the lyrics, but Yuugi still fell asleep to it, cuddled up to Atem.

_"Lullaby and goodnight, with roses bedight_

_With lilies o'er spread is Yuugi's sweet head._

_Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed_

_Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed._

_"Lullaby and goodnight, everyone's delight_

_Bright angels beside my darling abide._

_They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my chest_

_They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my chest."_

Yuugi didn't even realize when he'd finally fallen asleep.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Yuugi woke up and tried to stretch. When he found he couldn't really move, he opened his eyes to see Atem pressed against him. The older man had an arm around Yuugi's waist, and Yuugi blushed at the way their legs were touching.

Atem suddenly yawned, and opened his eyes groggily. He smiled and said sleepily, "Good morning, Yuugi. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," Yuugi said. "Um...thank you."

Atem chuckled. "Anytime." He kissed the top of Yuugi's head then released him. He got out of bed and stretched. He grabbed a shirt out of his dresser and threw it on. Yuugi was still in bed, tired. "What would you like for breakfast?" Atem asked.

Yuugi started to get up. "I can't let you cook for me again!"

Atem gently pushed him back down. "Oh no, you're the guest; I'm the host. Now, how about that breakfast? Any preferences?"

Yuugi flopped back down, grinning. "Surprise me."

* * *

Anzu sighed as she woke up. The previous day had been horrid. Her father had forced her to stay in the church all day; only a meager lunch and dinner had been provided.

Her father had said she needed to spend some time in the church (to show everyone that she was a good little priestess). It hadn't been fun.

She got up and dressed—in her robes, what else? Her father was still in bed, but she wasn't taking and chances. She grabbed an apple and a glass of milk, so she could get out quickly. She wasn't sure where Yuugi would shop, but she had a good guess. There was one vendor that would sell groceries cheaper than most others, Katsuya. She was going to talk to him.

Anzu smiled at the people who stared at her. This was why she didn't want to wear the damn robes! And it would seem even weirder for a priestess to be asking around about some little nobody...

In the market place, Anzu quickly found Katsuya. He was sitting leisurely, waiting for the rush right before lunchtime.

Anzu walked up to him. "Hello, Katsuya?"

"Huh?" He looked at the girl coming towards him. "Yeah, that's me. What can I do for ya?"

"Do you know Yuugi Mutou?"

Katsuya nodded. "Yeah, I know him. Why'd'you wanna know?"

"I'm trying to find some things out about him. How much do you know?"

Katsuya scratched his chin. "Not much. Yuugi's a nice guy, though. He's a bit strange sometimes, I must say, but not terribly so."

"Strange?" Anzu pounced on the word. "In what way?"

"Well, sometimes he won't come for days on end, up to a week, but he'll only buy enough food for a couple days. And occasionally he'll buy some strange food, or food combos. Must have a peculiar taste."

Anzu nodded, storing the information. _Definitely something_. "And his family? Do you know anything about them?"

Katsuya shook his head. "Sorry, missy. You want information on that, ask Old Man Hopkins. Heard he was close with Yuugi's grandpa."

"Thank you," Anzu said. She started back home. She'd have to find a way to contact this Hopkins. She didn't even notice she'd run by a friend until she suddenly heard, "Anzu!"

She turned and saw Mai standing there. "Mai!" she called happily, hugging the older woman. Long blonde locks tickled her face as Mai hugged her back.

"Oh, I haven't seen you in forever!" Mai exclaimed. "That dad of yours keeping you locked up in the church?"

Anzu half-smiled. "Something like that. I've just been busy."

"Well, anytime you need a break, you can stay at my place, you hear? You're just a kid, and they shouldn't work you so hard."

Anzu laughed. "I'm not a kid anymore, Mai. But I may just have to take you up on that offer."

* * *

"You're going to spoil me," Yuugi said as Atem brought him a plate with fresh fruit, bread, and a kind of mashed up cold fruit mix that tasted surprisingly good. "I'm never going to be able to go home after this."

"That's just fine with me." Atem grinned, making Yuugi blush. He grabbed a slice of bread. He'd decided to share with Yuugi instead of making his own meal.

They sat on top of Atem's bed. He hadn't let Yuugi get up yet. They lay together after they finished eating. Atem grabbed Yuugi's hand. "Yuugi?"

Yuugi looked at him. "What is it, Atem?"

Atem appeared to be struggling with words. "Do you..." He sighed, irritated at himself. "I haven't exactly been subtle. You know I like you. But do you..." He couldn't choke out the last part.

Yuugi blushed. "Of course I like you! You're sweet and handsome and kind. And you can cook!" He laughed.

Atem smiled. "Ah, thank you. And you are even more so than I am. Just so beautiful," he said, brushing a thumb over Yuugi's cheek.

Yuugi smiled at the other man. "Thank you," he said, but it came out breathy. He grabbed Atem's hand and held it against his face. Atem leaned forward, still looking at Yuugi. Yuugi sat up, propping himself up on his elbow. He met Atem halfway.

Their lips pressed against each other. It was an accumulation of every touch, every kiss on the hand, cheek, forehead; it was _yes_ and _perfect_ and _finally_. Atem opened his mouth, pleased when Yuugi's immediately opened in response. His hand was still on Yuugi's cheek, so he pulled the other man even closer. Their tongues moved against each other in a rhythm that allowed Atem to take the lead. Yuugi was swept away.

Atem smiled as he pulled back, opening his eyes to see a wide-eyed Yuugi staring back at him. "Atem," he said.

"Yes?" Atem answered.

Yuugi pushed himself against Atem again, this time in a harder kiss. Atem was pushed back a bit, surprised, but quickly leaned into him.

They stayed like that for some time, occasionally breaking apart for air.

After they finished, Atem had an arm around Yuugi, who sat leaning into his chest. They didn't say anything, sitting together, both still feeling the reverberation of _yes, perfect,_ and _finally._

* * *

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Anzu said. She was sitting in Mai's living room, sitting with the older lady across from her.

"Try me," Mai shot back.

Anzu took a deep breath. "How much do you know about Yuugi Mutou?"

Mai seemed confused, but answered anyway. "A little. Never really talked to him, but he seems polite enough. I knew his mother before she ran away; didn't tell anybody why, just up and left. He grew up without a dad, I heard."

"What do you know about his mother?"

"Some. I mean, we weren't too close. She was real protective of her baby, I know. Said he was just an angel. She wouldn't remarry a different man to give the kid a father, though. They just stayed with her dad, the three of them together, but alone. Why were you wondering?"

Anzu took a steadying breath. "I...I have some suspicions about him."

Mai looked at her. "What kind of suspicions?"

"Promise you won't think I'm crazy or paranoid?" Anzu stalled.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Of course not. Tell me already!"

"I think he's a witch." Anzu held her breath, waiting for Mai to kick her out.

She sighed in relief when Mai didn't immediately call her insane, but actually appeared to be considering her statement. "What makes you think that?" she finally asked.

Anzu started explaining, "I have quite a bit of evidence. First off, his glamour. Everyone I've talked to has mentioned how kind or polite he is. Most also mentioned occasionally noticing something strange about him. And he looks so young! He's at least eighteen, but he looks years younger! And his eyes, they're much too, too innocent to be real! It's just not possible for a person to be that uncorrupted!"

Mai was taking this in. She didn't really know Yuugi; he seemed nice, but what did she know? And Anzu sounded very convincing. "Continue," Mai said.

Anzu was relieved. Mai believed her, at least some! She breathed in and said, "The strange things people mentioned, now. I talked to the vendor he buys food from, Katsuya. He said that Yuugi buys food for a couple days, but doesn't come back for up to a week! And he'll get some strange food, or weird combinations of food. I know it might not sound too suspicious, but just think if Yuugi _is_ a witch."

Mai rubbed the back of her head. "Okay, say I believe you. What are you gonna do about it?"

* * *

Yuugi stood in the guest room getting changed back into day clothes. He was smiling and humming the tune that Atem had sung to him last night. The man had a surprisingly good voice, Yuugi reflected. At the time, he hadn't really been aware enough to notice it.

And to think, his fear of thunderstorms had actually helped something get accomplished!

He finished getting dressed and met Atem downstairs. Atem had to head out to get more food, and Yuugi had asked to accompany him.

They started toward the market. It was wet everywhere. Yuugi almost stepped in a number of puddles. It was also humid, making both men's hair frizzy. Yuugi giggled every time he looked over to see Atem trying to tame his. He eventually gave up.

They found Katsuya dozing at his stall. Yuugi stage whispered, "Katsuya! I think you have customers!"

The man woke up quickly. He grinned at the pair. "Haha, very funny, Yuugi." He sat back, looking them over. "Well, you got a new friend?" He gestured to Atem.

"Ah...yeah," Yuugi said. "We came to grab some food."

Katsuya nodded. "Take what you need. Oh, and someone was asking about you."

Yuugi looked at him, confused. "Who was it? And why?"

Katsuya shrugged. "By her get up, she looked like a priestess."

"A priestess?" Atem interrupted. "What did she look like?"

"Well, she had short brown hair. I think it was that real young one, Anne? Anu? Something like that."

"Anzu?" Atem's eyebrows drew together. "But why would she be asking about Yuugi?"

"What'd you tell her?" Yuugi asked.

Katsuya shook his head. "What could I tell her? I wasn't gonna lie to a priestess. But don't worry, I didn't say much. Told her to go talk to Hopkins if she wanted info on the Mutous."

"I haven't talked to him in forever," Yuugi said. "He was one of my grandpa's friends."

Yuugi and Atem continued to wonder why someone was asking about Yuugi as they got and paid for their groceries.

Atem saw Yuugi's worry, and suggested they go to the pond again after dropping the food off at Atem's house. Yuugi agreed, and they started for Atem's place.

* * *

Anzu had no idea what she was going to do to get rid of Yuugi, but she suddenly remembered something she'd meant to mention to Mai. "And I was going to say: I think the witch has seduced someone."

Mai gasped. "Who? Oh, the poor girl. Does she know he's a witch?"

Anzu shook her head grimly. "That's the thing. It's not a girl. Do you know Prince Atem?"

Mai nodded. "Yeah, I've seen him. But what does that have to—" Her eyes widened. "Wait, you don't mean..."

Anzu nodded. "Yes, I do."

"But...I thought he liked you!" she blurted out.

Anzu bit her lip. "No, I like him. He likes me as a friend, though. But I've never seen him fall for anyone! He's usually so closed off, and I let him have his space. He never seemed to notice that I had feelings for him beyond friendship. And suddenly, he meets this Yuugi and all that changes! You can see it in his eyes, Mai! When he talks about Yuugi, Atem's eyes will get distracted, and he'll suddenly _have_ to do see the guy. I mean, I've heard about people being like...that...but I never thought _Atem_ could be a...And it was after just one meeting! After one encounter, Yuugi had Atem wrapped around his finger. And Atem doesn't even notice it...Oh, what do I do, Mai?" She put her head in her hands and sighed.

Mai patted her on the back. "Come on, girl. I think you're gonna have to warn Atem. You got me convinced; I'm sure you can make him see sense!"

Anzu stood. "Thank you, Mai." She smiled and hugged the other woman. "I'll go right now!"


	6. Chapter 6

They were putting the food in the kitchen when Atem heard a knock on the door.

"I'll be right back," he said to Yuugi. Yuugi nodded and continued putting the groceries away.

Atem opened his door to see a surprising familiar face. "Anzu? What are you doing here?"

Anzu smiled. "Hello, Atem. May I come in?"

"Oh, of course! Where are my manners?" He backed up and allowed Anzu to come in. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Anzu assured him. She cleared her throat. "So, I've been meaning to ask you—"

"Atem? Who was at the door?" Yuugi peaked in, his curiosity having got the better of him.

Anzu scowled inwardly. "Why, hello. Atem, I didn't know you already had company!"

"Yuugi!" Atem said. He laughed. "Well, I'll leave you two to get acquainted then, shall I? I'll finish putting up the food." He left to go in the kitchen.

Yuugi held out a hand. "Hello, I'm Yuugi Mutou. And you are?"

"Anzu Mazaki," the girl answered with a smile.

_Anzu_ , Yuugi thought. The name rang a bell...he'd heard it before...but when? "If I may ask, Miss Mazaki, would you happen to be a priestess?" Yuugi didn't keep himself very informed on the town gossip, but he knew the name was connected with the church. Wait—hadn't Katsuya mentioned an Anzu? A priestess named Anzu? Atem's priestess friend, Anzu? _Oh._

"Yes, I am," Anzu answered. "Why do you ask?" She didn't want to be speaking with this witch; she should be warning Atem. It was taking everything she had to keep her cool.

"I heard that...you'd been asking about me?" Yuugi made it a question.

Anzu inwardly sighed. _Thanks, father. This is why I didn't want the robes!_ "Um, well yes! You see, I'd heard that you and Atem were together. I didn't really know your name, so I was naturally curious about you!" When was Atem coming back?

Yuugi laughed quietly. "Yes, I'm not very social. But yeah, Atem mentioned a really close friend by the name of Anzu. I assume you're her?"

_The witch can get Atem to reveal his secret?!_ "Most likely," she said with a smile. They stood in silence for a while. Anzu was debating confronting Yuugi, to try to get him to confess, admit to being a witch.

She was still debating when Yuugi asked, "So, how long have you known Atem?"

Anzu's smile was forced. "Since he came here, actually, so about six years. But he's usually pretty closed off; it's...good to see that he made another close friend."

Yuugi nodded, unsure what to say next. He felt like he should continue the conversation, but he had no idea how.

Anzu was still arguing with herself. _It would be so much more convincing if I had a confession, but could I get him to admit it? Could I guilt him into it?_ She bit her lip. "Um, Yuugi?"

"Yes?" Yuugi said relieved that he didn't have to come up with another topic.

"Are you hiding anything from Atem?" Anzu asked.

Yuugi shook his head, shocked. _What could she possibly be talking about?_ "No, of course not! Is that why you were asking about me? Because you thought I was hiding something? But you hadn't even met me!" he said, indignant.

Anzu shook her head, irritated. Should she not have even said anything? But she'd already started. _In for a penny, and all that._ "I know. But Atem seemed to like you the moment he laid eyes on you. Was there a reason?"

Yuugi's eyes widened. Atem had liked them from the moment they'd met? "I-I'd had no idea," he said, surprise making him stutter.

Anzu smirked. Was she making him nervous? Good. Maybe she could get a confession! "Yes. It certainly looked suspicious to me."

Yuugi frowned. "Suspicious?"

Anzu couldn't stand it, his "innocent" act. She blurted, "Yes, witch! That's the only way! You're a witch. I know it!"

Yuugi, instead of doing what probably would have been the smart thing and immediately denying it or running to get Atem, asked with curiosity and wide eyes, "But...why? What would make you think that?"

Anzu's eyes watered with frustrated tears. "Why can't you just admit it? I have proof! I can convince Atem that you're tricking him!"

Yuugi, still baffled, said, "What proof could you have for it?" The fact that she was telling the truth—or at least, she thought she was—just served to confuse Yuugi even further.

"Looks like you weren't as careful as you thought you were! I saw your tracks! The isolation, the food—and, and I'll bet your dad left your mother after he found out! I bet she was one too! Even without your confession, I can get people to see. I just wanted to see if you had some ounce of decency left that would allow you to tell the truth," she spat angrily.

Yuugi wasn't so much mad as he was sad. He was terrible with people. He'd gotten over-confident with Atem, and _this_ is what happened with the next person he talked to. It was down-putting to see that his social skills hadn't improved at all.

Anzu just got even madder seeing the witch look sad. "How long will you try to keep this up?" she all but shouted. Tears were steaming down her face, but she didn't even notice.

Yuugi said wearily, "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not—" Anzu started, then cut herself off as she wiped the tears from her face. They just flowed even faster. "H-how did you do that? Why can't you just leave me and Atem alone?"

At that moment, said person walked into the room. He took in the sad and confused Yuugi, the mad and irritated Anzu, and walked over to them.

Anzu, facing the kitchen door, saw him first. "Atem!" she called. "I have something to tell you."

Atem reached them. He looked at Yuugi and squeezed the boy's hand. "Why don't you sit down? Anzu and I will talk in private." Yuugi nodded and took a seat on the bench.

Atem led Anzu outside. She still had tear stains on her cheeks, and her eyes were red. She was a mess.

"Anzu, what's wrong?" Had Yuugi said something? He'd seemed just as confused as Atem was, though!

"That _Yuugi_ is what's wrong!" Her voice broke on the name. "He-he acts ask innocent, but it's all a ruse and you can't see!"

"What?" Atem didn't understand. _What about Yuugi?_ "Anzu, what do you mean?"

"I mean Yuugi's a witch and you can't even see it!"

Atem was dumbfounded. "Anzu...you… think Yuugi's a witch?" He got mad. "But why? What has he ever done to you?"

_He stole you from me._ "He seduced you! Haven't you ever wondered why you immediately fell for him? How he's unnaturally beautiful? It's all a glamour! I doubt his name is even Yuugi! He can't be as innocent as you think he is; it's an act. And he's always alone! What does he do in his spare time? Tell me that! I got information on him, and I'm sure I could get even more."

"But..." Atem didn't want to believe it, but Yuugi didn't have many friends he could ask, no alibi. His family was all gone. There was no one to defend Yuugi...except for Atem. "No," he said firmly, finally. "Yuugi's not a witch. I refuse to believe it."

"But Atem—"

"If Yuugi's a witch, then he's the most heavenly witch I've ever seen!" Atem snapped. "And a witch I'm in love with. Anzu, you're my friend. I don't want to say this to you, I really don't. But if you're going to continue to try to tell me Yuugi's a witch, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"A-Atem..." Fresh tears ran down Anzu's face. Atem's own eyes grew damp in response.

"I'm sorry." He felt like a hand was gripping his heart in his chest. This was his closest friend, his first confidant, and he truly didn't want to hurt her. But he couldn't listen to those things she was saying about Yuugi. So he turned back to the house and shut the door behind him, feeling a sense of finality, and moved to where an uninformed Yuugi sat on the bench. Atem hugged him tightly.

Yuugi turned to him. "What did she want to say to you?"

"She...she tried to tell me you were a witch."

Yuugi looked at him intently. "But...why would she think that?"

Atem sighed and held him closer. "I don't know, Yuugi. She talked about your beauty," Atem said, kissing his lips lightly. "And your innocence," he continued, and ran a hand down his cheek. Yuugi shivered. Atem smiled and abruptly pulled him to his feet. "Come on. We're both tired. Let's go to the pond."

* * *

Anzu had run to Mai's house when Atem had turned his back on her.

She felt alone. Atem had been her only supporter. Even Mai agreed with her father on the notion that she shouldn't be dancing; she thought it was a faze that she shouldn't indulge in.

Yuugi had bewitched Atem more than she'd thought. Even with more proof, would she be able to convince Atem?

Mai's eyes grew soft when saw her. "Oh...oh Anzu...He didn't believe you, did he?"

Anzu sniffed. "No. But I'm not giving up. I'll get more proof. I will convince Atem that Yuugi is a witch. And if I can't do that, then I'll just convince everybody else."

* * *

Yuugi sat in Atem's lap, his head resting on Atem's shoulder. Atem was still agitated, so it had fallen to Yuugi to calm him down.

Atem didn't understand how Anzu would think that Yuugi, harmless, innocent, sweet little Yuugi, could be a witch. Glamour? No, that was just stupid. No act could be that complete.

It hurt, though. Anzu had been his friend, one of the only people he actually enjoyed talking with. She had been a great friend. Why was she suddenly seemingly against him?

Atem sighed and pulled Yuugi close. "You'd tell me if you were a witch, right?"

Yuugi laughed, immediately making Atem feel better. He didn't notice Yuugi's pause. "I imagine it'd be hard to keep it a secret."

Atem smiled. "I love you, Yuugi."

Yuugi blushed, but not just from the compliment. "I love you too. I really, really do. You know that, right?" Atem just kissed the top of his head. "And Anzu mentioned something. Nothing bad," he quickly assured him. "She just said that it seemed like from the first time you met me, you liked me. Is that...true?"

Atem nodded. "As soon as I saw you, I couldn't get you out of my mind. You were just so beautiful; I wanted to stay with you for the rest of the day."

"I liked you when I first saw you too," Yuugi confided. "I don't know if I realized it at the time, but looking back, I can tell."

They sat in silence, and Yuugi had almost drifted off, despite the stressful day, when Atem asked, "What if she tries to convince me again?"

Yuugi looked at him. "Huh?"

"She almost convinced me," Atem admitted. "That you were a witch. And she said she'd get more proof. I'm just worried I'll turn on you."

Yuugi smiled slightly and kissed Atem's hand. "I don't think you would turn on me, Atem." He sat up a bit. "But let's not talk about that now, okay? I'll tell you about my childhood since she tried to use it against me." He paused and began, with a self-depreciating smile, "You're pretty much the only person I talk to. I'm not very social because I grew up kind of alone, with no other friends my age. My mom was always really protective of me. So I'm not good with people, and I'm used to being kept inside. I have a weird taste in food because we didn't have a lot of money growing up, so my mom was sometimes forced to try to make things last longer; water down drinks, salt and dry meat to keep it, and we had bread a lot. I sometimes had to go for a while without food, but I'm not mad. I know my mom and grandpa had to go longer. And when we did get food, it was cheap, not good quality, or just strange. You know, weird fruits and the like, things that nobody else would buy. I actually grew to like them over time."

Yuugi grew sad talking about his family, and Atem noticed. "I think that's enough," he said kindly. Atem held the other man closer, in a way that said, _I'll protect you. I'll defend you, even if no one else will._

Yuugi heard the message loud and clear. Yuugi held Atem back, trying to convey a message that he knew the other wouldn't be able to read— _I'm sorry._

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

Katsuya looked up as a woman approached him. She had long blonde hair and purple eyes. She started looking at some vegetables, picking them up and setting them back down. She kept looking at Katsuya out of the corner of her eye, he noticed.

She abruptly turned to him. "Hello," she said. "I'm Mai Kujaku. And you would be Mister Jounouchi, correct?"

He bobbed his head. "Call me Katsuya, but yeah, that's me. Why?" And why was his stall suddenly so popular?

"Oh, no reason," the woman said, leaning casually against the stall. Katsuya looked her over, deciding she was definitely not unattractive.

She looked at her nails, humming. "So," she said conversationally, "you keeping up on the latest gossip?"

Katsuya shook his head, making his hair flop around. "Nah, not really."

Mai gasped and covered her mouth. "Well, I don't want to say things where it's not my place," she said, leaning in closer. Katsuya unconsciously leaned in too. "Wouldn't want word of a witch getting around." Her eyes widened while Katsuya raised an eyebrow.

"Witch, huh? Where'd you hear that?"

"I've already talked too much! Oh, I could never keep a secret," she lamented.

"Well, you can't leave me wondering now! So, who is it?"

She glanced behind her, as if somebody might be eavesdropping. She whispered, "I heard it was that Yuugi Mutou."

Katsuya frowned. "Yuugi? What? Why?" The young man was nice and polite; he sure didn't seem like a witch. But then, what did he know about witches?

Mai giggled. "Oh, you know. He's all shrouded in mystery, right? No real explanations for what he does in his free time or even where he came from, really. He's got this whole façade going. Who knows anything about him? And he recently tricked some other guy into a relationship!"

Katsuya scratched his chin. "I dunno, seems a bit...far-fetched." But he had seen Yuugi just a few days ago with that other man.

"This comes straight from the church!" Mai confided. "They think Yuugi is suspicious. I heard that they don't trust him; his mom and grandpa's reputation doesn't really help his case. I mean, really! What does this sound like to you?"

Katsuya wasn't sure. He didn't know Yuugi too well—just what he bought and when—and he didn't know the family at all. "I guess it does look pretty shady..."

Mai nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She backed away from the vendor. "Well, I'll see you. Keep an eye out for anything. Let me know if you notice something."

She walked away, meeting up with Anzu around a corner. The other girl had a huge smile on her face. "So?" Anzu said excitedly. "How'd it go with you?"

Mai laughed. "Pretty good. I think I convinced him. If we don't hear from him, though, I'll go back and tell him whatever we hear when we visit Arthur. What about you?"

"I think Honda's convinced. He definitely seemed like it."

"Nice," Mai complimented. "Think they'll spread the word?"

"Let's hope so."

The pair started toward the Hopkins' residence. They knew there was supposed to be another person staying there aside from the man they wanted to visit, a fourteen year old girl, Rebecca.

At that moment, Rebecca was arriving home. She was the person who had to take care of her grandfather. She turned around to close the front door behind her, only to see two girls standing there. She jumped back in surprise. "Hello! Um, what can I do for you?" she asked politely.

Anzu looked down at the younger girl. "Yes, can we speak with Arthur Hopkins?"

Rebecca shrugged. "I can see if he's up to it. Be right back. Grab a seat wherever." She reached around the women to close the door then quickly hurried back deeper into the house.

Anzu and Mai sat together on a bench, waiting. Anzu turned to the other woman. "Do you think this guy's going to have anything worthwhile?"

Mai shrugged. "We won't know till we talk to him. And if the families were close, I wonder if he knew that Yuugi is a witch." She gasped. "What if his mother, or grandfather was a witch too?"

"I've thought about it," Anzu admitted. "If it comes from his mother's side, and this Hopkins guy knew Yuugi's mom's dad, then he may have known if one, or all of them, was a witch."

"Could be why the dad left," Mai thought aloud. "If he found out the woman he loved had lied to him, I doubt he would have taken it well."

Before Anzu could agree, Rebecca walked into the room with an older man. Anzu and Mai rose and greeted him. He nodded and sat down in a rocking chair. Mai and Anzu sat back on the bench, and Rebecca took a seat on a plain chair in the corner.

"Well, girls, I was told you wanted to speak with me about something?"

"Yes, Mr. Hopkins," Anzu started, before she was interrupted.

"No, call me Arthur. It's easier and much less formal."

Anzu nodded. "Okay...Arthur. Well, we wanted to talk to you about the Mutou family."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "What about them?"

"You knew Sugoroku and Elenora, right?" Mai cut in.

Arthur nodded. "Yes, I knew Sugoroku and his daughter."

Anzu asked, "How much and what did you know about them?"

Rebecca didn't like where this conversation was going. She wanted to interrupt, but they seemed to have forgotten she was there. She doubted that they would want to say important things in front of her, so she held her peace and kept listening.

Arthur sat back, thinking. "Quite a bit. I knew Sugoroku fairly well; I'd say we were pretty close friends. I was there for him when his wife died, and when Elenora would act up. And when he became a grandfather."

"But did you ever notice anything...odd about the family?" Anzu prodded.

Arthur sighed. "The Mutous? Odd? Certainly."

Anzu almost jumped up in elation. Looks like they had come to the right guy! "Odd in what way?"

"Very closed off; sometimes Sugoroku and I wouldn't talk for days. They didn't like people coming over on short notice. Well, honestly, they didn't like people coming over in general. And they were always real protective of their little boy, Yuugi. Oh, he was the cutest little baby. But we never really got to see him. Anytime he started crying, they had to go home. Over-protective, if you ask me."

Anzu was taking this in. _What would they have had to hide? Why were they so careful with baby Yuugi?_

Mai said, "Thank you for telling us that. But really, doesn't that seem very...peculiar? Do you think they could have had a secret?"

Rebecca had heard enough. She quietly slipped out. No one noticed.

* * *

As much as Yuugi had enjoyed staying at Atem's house the past few days, he'd finally asked to go home. Atem had laughed, saying he'd never stop him from going wherever he wanted, and asked to accompany him.

So the two made their way to Yuugi's house when Yuugi suddenly saw that the door was open. He ran ahead of Atem, looking in the doorway, and almost bumping into the person coming back out.

"Rebecca?" Yuugi asked. "What are you doing here?"

The girl was out of breath. As Atem came up behind them, she finally got out, "Grandpa...telling Anzu...about you..."

Atem scowled. "Why won't she give up on that? She's trying to get some information on you and she'll just be even more delusional than before!"

Yuugi rubbed Atem's arm while Rebecca looked at him strangely. Yuugi gave her a look that said, _In a minute._ She nodded.

"It'll be alright," Yuugi assured the older man. "I'm sure it will all blow over soon."

Atem chuckled tiredly. "I should be reassuring you."

Rebecca stood there awkwardly until Yuugi looked at her and said, "Thanks for the heads up, Rebecca." He hugged her gratefully.

Atem felt weird. He wanted to pull Yuugi off this other girl and take him back to his house. His stomach and face felt strange, too. But then Yuugi pulled back, and the feeling diminished noticeably, though it didn't completely go away.

He held Yuugi close as Rebecca walked back to her house. "Who was that?" he asked.

"The granddaughter of one of my grandpa's friends. I didn't really get to know her until after they died," Yuugi explained as he walked around his house. Compared to Atem's, his house was tiny. He had some food, not a lot.

"You know," Atem said, looking around as well, "you could just stay with me."

Yuugi continued walking around until he realized what Atem had said. "Wait, what?"

Atem laughed. "If you would rather, I wouldn't mind you staying with me. The guest room won't be used otherwise. And of course, if that's not okay, you've felt my own bed first-hand," he teased. "But obviously, you don't have to. I just think it would be better if you were close by me; it would make me feel better, at least. If it's uncomfortable with you though, that's fine as well." So saying, Atem felt the tightness in his stomach dissipate, only to be replaced with nervousness.

Yuugi didn't know what to do. He _wanted_ to stay with Atem, of course! But he already knew he was being targeted; at the moment, Atem was just...there. If they were staying in the same house...He imagined how that would look to other people, how they would think of Atem. He would probably become a target, too.

Atem seemed to take his silence as a no. He deflated and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh...sorry I brought the idea up. I'll just—"

"No!" Yuugi shouted. He blushed. In a quieter voice, he said, "I mean, yes! I-I would love to stay with you!" After seeing Atem's heartbroken face, he couldn't just say no, especially knowing that face was his fault.

Atem lit up. "Oh! That's-That's great! Well...I guess if you need anything..."

Yuugi smiled. "I'll grab my stuff. I'll be ready in a few minutes, okay?" Atem waited, and Yuugi soon came over to him with a sack slung over his shoulder.

"Ready to go?" Yuugi asked, holding out an arm. Laughing, Atem grabbed Yuugi's arm.

Yuugi glanced at Atem. Seeing him happy made Yuugi happy, but as people looked at them on their way to Atem's house, he had only one thought. _What have I gotten him into?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw the chapter is 90% dialogue


	8. Chapter 8

Rebecca arrived back at her house to see that the two women had left.

She stomped over to her grandfather, irritated. "What'd you tell them?" she demanded.

Arthur chuckled. "Not too much, after you left. They tried to convince me that Yuugi's a witch."

Rebecca scowled. "Why would they think that? How?"

Arthur took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh, leaned back in his chair, and shrugged. "Looks like they're smarter than people give them credit for."

* * *

Katsuya nodded at the customer. "Yep, that's what I heard, at least. Crazy, huh?"

The woman nodded and hurried away, ready to tell her friends what she'd been told. A witch! Who would've thought?

Katsuya wasn't usually into gossip. So what if some young girl had a new boyfriend, or that he was cheating on her? Why would anybody else care? But this witch information...that was interesting. Katsuya was still a bit skeptical, but almost everyone he told seemed to believe him. Heck, they'd probably think he was telling the truth if he said that there were vampires and werewolves running around.

He saw the person who'd first told him the news, Mai. She was walking up to him. As she got closer she said, "Oh, Katsuya! How's it going with the stall?"

Katsuya nodded. "Pretty good. Say, got any more info on Yuu- er, the witch?"

Mai got a glint in her eyes. She grinned widely. "Actually, yes! Well, more on his family than him directly."

"That's fine," he told her. "I was pretty curious about that, anyway. I didn't know much about the family."

"Well, you know how Yuugi's very closed off, right? I heard that his whole family was that way! All reclusive, and very protective of Yuugi when he was younger. They didn't have many friends, and were even secretive to the friends they did have. Weird, huh?"

Katsuya nodded disinterestedly. "Mmm."

Mai bit her lip. "There's more! Well, um, you know how Yuugi grew up without a dad? He mi-he left because he found out Yuugi's mother was a witch too! I can't really blame him, though."

Katsuya sat up. "Oh, wow. I didn't know his mom was a witch too!"

Mai laughed nervously. "Yeah! That's all I got, though. But you'll be the first person I come to if I find out anything else, okay?"

"Works for me." The man sat back. His next customer would certainly be surprised.

Mai walked away, still nervous. Anzu had told her to _only_ use facts; if they made up things, they were no better than a couple jealous girls. But it wasn't made up—they'd contemplated it, and the theory made sense. Plus, Mai needed to keep them interested! If people didn't get something interesting, they'd just forget all about Yuugi being a witch! And besides, wasn't everything they were saying basically an educated guess?

She walked back to her house. Should she tell Anzu? No, the girl would just get mad at her. It was better to let her think that the story had evolved that way on its own.

* * *

Yuugi had permanently moved into Atem's house. The guest room became his room. He helped out with meals and laundry, and swept out the living room at the end of every day. But Atem never made Yuugi go out to get things. Anytime they needed supplies, Atem would hurry out, get them, and come back. He didn't want Yuugi running into Anzu or Mai, even though he rarely saw them himself. When he did, he would quickly get away. Atem didn't want to face Anzu; he was afraid she might actually convince him, no matter what Yuugi believed.

There was also another reason Atem didn't want Yuugi to go out. He'd heard people whispering things about Yuugi, none of them good. They talked about the witch tricking everybody, especially one innocent little person. Descriptions of said person varied widely, from a younger girl, to a boy-crazy teenage girl. Some even said it was a little boy, barely walking, while others said it was an old man.

Atem knew they were talking about him. Whenever he tried to say that maybe the person actually _was_ in love with the witch, they'd just roll their eyes and walk away, calling back, "Nobody can love a witch!"

Atem was worried that he would eventually be recognized. He knew some people had seen him with Yuugi. How long before they made the connection? So he tried to go out only when necessary and not talk to anybody unless they approached him first. Yuugi could tell Atem was tense. He knew the older man was just trying to protect him, but Yuugi knew Atem wasn't telling him something; he always seemed exhausted when he would come back from the market.

But other then that, the two were happy together. Atem enjoyed singing, and Yuugi loved to listen. Yuugi occasionally made dinner or breakfast for Atem, though he was rarely the first one awake. They also both loved games; they spent hours on end in the upstairs "den." When Yuugi completed every puzzle Atem owned, Atem would tell him riddles. Yuugi would sometimes appear stumped, but then seek out Atem later and gleefully proclaim, "A river!" or "Sawdust!" or "A rag!"

He'd been staying at Atem's house for a just over a week. Atem didn't really want to talk about it, but Yuugi eventually whittled out that Atem had heard rumors being spread about them. It upset Atem, and Yuugi had to comfort him, saying that it would be okay, and who cared what other people thought anyway?

One time when this was happening, Atem hugged him close and said, "I'll love you, no matter what. I'd love you even if you _were_ a witch."

Yuugi smiled sadly. "I know. I love you too." That night, Atem cooked dinner and Yuugi fixed dessert. They didn't have dessert every night, as they were usually low on supplies, but tonight Yuugi felt like they needed something.

Atem laughed as they ate when he looked up at Yuugi. Yuugi frowned. "What is it?"

Atem leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "You had a little something."

Yuugi giggled. He was past blushing at every thing Atem did, but sometimes the older man would get him. Atem leaned back in his chair and stretched, yawning.

"Tired?" Yuugi asked.

Atem nodded. "Long day. Want me to clean up, or-"

Yuugi rolled his eyes. "If you're tired, head on up. I'll clean down here."

Atem smiled. "Thank you, Yuugi." He hugged the younger man then walked to his room to get ready for bed.

Yuugi cleaned the dishes and ate the few remaining bites of dessert on Atem's plate. He went up to his room after he'd finished. Once he'd gotten his sleeping clothes on, he walked quietly to Atem's door. He wanted to say good night, but didn't want to wake him up if he was asleep. Yuugi opened the door. Atem lay in bed breathing evenly. Yuugi smiled at the cute scene, but frowned when he realized how exhausted the older man must have been. Yuugi walked over to him and leaned down. He kissed his forehead. "G'night Atem," he whispered.

Something grabbed his hand as he was walking away. He looked back to see Atem, wide awake.

"I'm sorry," Yuugi said, still whispering, though he didn't know why. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's quite alright," Atem assured him. "So long as I get an apology kiss."

Yuugi sighed in fake exasperation. "What am I going to do with you?" He bent over, about to kiss Atem's cheek. But Atem had another idea. He moved his head slightly, so Yuugi kissed his lips instead. Yuugi certainly didn't seem to mind. Atem sat up, then leaned back, pulling Yuugi down with him. Yuugi squeaked, making Atem chuckle.

Yuugi pouted and kissed him harder. Atem smiled against his mouth. Yuugi moved into Atem's bare chest, getting as close as he could. Yuugi felt Atem's hand stroke his stomach, making the smaller of the two shiver. Atem put a hand on his waist. Yuugi gasped. That was all Atem needed to enter his mouth.

They lay together, as close as they could, kissing, touching,but slowly and gently. Atem's hand felt the hem of Yuugi's shirt. Yuugi got the hint, and soon they were both bare-chested. Yuugi blushed at the way Atem could see him. He wasn't near as muscled as Atem. But the older just kissed his stomach, then came back up to his neck. Yuugi gasped as Atem trailed kisses down his neck, chest.

When Atem's hand suddenly touched the inside of Yuugi's thigh, he realized what he was doing. He abruptly pulled away, pushing himslef to the other side of the bed. Atem looked at him, confused. The two stared at each other until Atem finally said, "I'm sorry. I was out of line. I-I shouldn't have done that. Sorry."

Yuugi was silently crying. He hiccuped, then shook his head. "No, it's not that. It's not you."

Atem reached over slowly, giving Yuugi plenty of time to pull away. When he didn't, Atem gently wiped away the tears. "What's wrong?" he asked. "If you didn't like it-"

"No!" Yuugi said. "I _did_ like it. I...loved it. But I can't!" Tears fell down his face again.

"Yuugi, I'll never force you into anything, you know that. What's wrong?" Atem asked. Not demanding, just wondering.

Yuugi buried his head in a pillow. "You'll hate me, no matter what you say." His voice was muffled, but Atem could tell what he'd said.

Atem grabbed his hand. "Yuugi, I could never hate you. I love you. You know that!"

Yuugi continued to sob. "B-but I am! It's true. You n-never directly asked, so I told myself I wasn't really lying. But I was! I've b-been lying to you this whole t-time!" He could barely talk around the tears.

Atem was still confused. He lifted up Yuugi's head gently. "Yuugi," he said quietly. "What do you mean?"

Yuugi's lip quivered. Atem almost said he didn't have to tell him, when Yuugi blurted out, "I _am_ a witch." He moved back, almost out of the bed. He was ready to run from the only person who had ever befriended him, let alone loved him. _My people skills are still terrible,_ he thought morosely.

Atem sat in shock, not moving. Yuugi... _was_ a witch? Anzu had been right? His friend had told the truth? And he had abandoned her! He had believed some random guy he'd just met over his best friend! What kind of person was he?!

A broken voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Not like that!"

Atem looked over to see a cowering Yuugi. Even after he'd been told that he was, without a doubt, a witch, Atem still couldn't see the innocent boy in front of him being such a horrid creature.

"It's not like that," Yuugi repeated. "Not like Anzu said, I swear. I am a witch, but not like that!"

"How?" Atem asked simply. "Why...didn't you tell me?"

Yuugi sniffed and started babbling, only hearing the first question. "M-my mother was a witch. So was my grandmother. I don't know about my father. Mom didn't like to talk about him."

Yuugi yawned pitifully and Atem scowled. "We'll finish this in the morning." He rolled over, his thoughts still in turmoil.

Yuugi laid uncertainty on the other side of the bed. He didn't know what to do.

"Please...leave," Atem said quietly.

Yuugi felt his eyes tear up again. He stumbled to his room. He collapsed on his bed, and eventually cried himself to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Anzu sat nervously on Mai's couch. She had just gotten back from the church. She still went there - to pray and help others pray. And if sometimes they might leave with a certain new piece of information, well, it was hardly Anzu's fault for trying to make small talk.

Mai walked in, still thinking about the little bit she had added to Yuugi's story. She greeted Anzu cheerfully. When the girl didn't reply, Mai sat down next to her. "Hey," she said. "What's wrong?"

Anzu had her chin in her hands. "My father."

Mai scowled. "What did he say to you?"

Anzu half-smiled. "Nothing. I actually haven't seen him. I'm just anxious about what will happen if I do."

"You know what?" Mai said. "I think you're going to have to confront him. You're always so worried about running into him; this way, you're doing it on your own terms. Besides, no one's seen him out and about in days, and they're all too scared to check the house. He could be sick or something! And he may forget about you running away or forgive you for it if you take care of him. Hell, he might even let you stay here!"

Anzu laughed a little. "Mai, I think you're right! I'll go check up on him. Right now!"

Mai beamed as Anzu stood and headed for the door. "Remember," she called as the girl left, "like you said, you're not a kid anymore. He may be your father, but he doesn't control your life."

Anzu walked to her house with surprising confidence, though it was underlined by trepidation. She hoped her father would understand, but what if he disregarded her, ignored her? What if he forced her to stay home?

She shook off her doubts and made her way to the church. She quietly greeted all the people in there and walked into her house. She opened the door and stepped inside. She didn't see her father anywhere. _Maybe Mai's right_ , she thought. _Maybe he is sick._

"Father?" Anzu called. Instead of turning around and running back to Mai's house like she wanted to, she continued forward to her father's room. She pushed open the door and gasped.

"F-father?" she stuttered. She walked towards the prone figure. "Dad...get up. Wake up, Dad!" She screamed the last part.

When the man didn't move, what she'd feared as soon as she laid her eyes on him sunk in. His eyes were vacant, staring, unblinking. His chest wasn't moving. He was sprawled haphazardly on the floor.

She sank to her knees, hands covering her mouth. Her eyes welled with tears. She hiccupped into her hands before she started crying hysterically. She punched the ground. She sobbed for some time before her vision finally cleared. She got up and staggered over to him. The body was days old, disgusting now. She pulled down his eyelids down to cover the lifeless orbs.

Anzu didn't know what to do. The man had been dead for days, and she hadn't even been there for him! Maybe he wasn't her favorite person, but she was his _daughter!_ Her own father had _died_ , and she ignored him because she was mad about his little rant. If she had been there, she could have gotten somebody. He wouldn't have left her, just like...Atem...

Anzu shook her head. _Who'll be next? Mai? Will I loose everyone?_ She got up unsteadily. She burst out the front door, almost running into a person who was trying to come in. A person who, honestly, she hadn't been sure she would see again.

* * *

Yuugi woke up stiffly. His pillow was still damp. He lay in bed for a few more moments before he realized how late in the day it was. He sat up a little. Atem had usually woken him up before now.

He plopped his head back down. Of course Atem wouldn't wake him up. The man probably didn't even want to be in the same room as him.

Yuugi eventually picked himself back up and got out of bed. He got dressed and walked down the hallway to Atem's door.

He stood uneasily outside the door. Would Atem get mad if he saw him? Would he ignore him? Yuugi worked up the courage and rapped quickly on the door. "Atem?" When there was no reply, not even a "Go away," Yuugi tried again. He knocked harder and longer. "Atem, answer me. Even if you just tell me to leave, say something!"

Nothing. Yuugi pushed open the door. He looked around, feeling foolish. Atem wasn't even in his room. Yuugi sighed and headed back out. He closed the door behind him and walked down the hallway. He hurried down the stairs. Atem wasn't in the main room. Yuugi checked the kitchen. Atem wasn't in there either, but something else was. There was a note on the kitchen table. Yuugi picked it up, his hand shaking.

"I can't. I'm sorry."

Yuugi tore up the paper. Four words...and that was it. Did Atem expect him to go home? He obviously didn't want Yuugi staying in his house.

Yuugi ran to his room - no, the guest room. He gathered his things. He found some things to write a note back to Atem as he searched the room. He still hoped Atem would let him explain. As he exited the house, he had a thought. _I really need to work on social skills._

* * *

Atem didn't want to write a note. But he didn't think he'd be able to tell Yuugi in person. If he saw those sad eyes, helpless looking...

He shook his head. _He told you himself he was a witch! He blatantly admitted to lying to you from the moment you met._

"Yuugi, I'm sorry I reacted like I did-"

Atem scrapped the paper.

"I just can't be with-"

He scowled, crumpling the note. He went through many more before he finally decided on keeping it short and sweet. Well, not so much sweet as it was short.

Atem didn't want to be there when Yuugi woke up. He sighed and headed out.

He didn't know where he was going. He just let his feet carry him where they wanted to go.

Atem suddenly realized where he was. He walked into the church. He checked the sanctuary and the back rooms, but couldn't find Anzu or even Mr. Mazaki. He stepped back out of the church and walked a short ways to a house next to it.

He hesitated outside the door, and jumped back, surprised, when a figure bustled out. He looked over Anzu, seeing the broken look on her face.

"A-Atem?" the girl said. She fell onto his chest. Atem couldn't react as she punched his chest lightly. "Gone, gone, gone!" she moaned.

"Woah," Atem said, confused. "Anzu, what's-"

"He's dead! My father...and I-I couldn't do anything about it! How could he just g-go? He was my-my dad..." She cried into his torso.

Atem patted her back unsurely. Mr. Mazaki was dead? How? When? People around them started to stare. "Hey," he said, softly to Anzu. "We're going to have to tell somebody. We'll have to plan a funeral."

Anzu sniffed and pulled back, nodding. "Mai," she croaked. "We have to let Mai know." She looked at Atem like she'd just realized he was there. She opened her mouth, but Atem cut her off.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Yuugi...he told me straight up that he was a witch. I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

Anzu laughed sadly. "Why would you? I'm just a crazy little girl, a priestess who wants to be a _dancer_ of all things, ready be abandoned." She frowned at him. "I thought you were my friend, but you left me." She scowled. "You didn't believe me!"

Anzu almost slapped him. Instead, she stormed away to Mai's house. She would know what to do.

Atem stood in shock. He just wanted to apologize...

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Some people were still staring strangely. Atem headed back to the house.

"Yuugi?" he called as he opened the door. Then he realized he'd basically kicked the guy out.

Atem walked into the kitchen, and raised an eyebrow at seeing a note. Had Yuugi not seen his? - but no. Atem noticed as he got closer that it was different. It was Yuugi's handwriting, which was unsurprising as it was unexpected. Atem scooped up the note.

_"Perhaps I should have seen this coming. Only, I thought I could make it work; I guess not. No matter - I'm not surprised. Disappointed, maybe._

_At myself, not at you. To be honest, I don't think I could ever stay mad at you._

_Not fully, at least; but I still regret my immediate infatuation with you.  Only one person could ever love me, I suppose; mom. Only her. Never you; but I don't blame you."_

After reading the message, Atem frowned at the note. It was awkward and choppy and mean, which just wasn't _Yuugi_. But then again, Atem himself had been abrupt and rude, too. He supposed that Yuugi just didn't care, or hadn't planned out anything to say, writing things as they popped into his head, or...or...

A breathy laugh was startled out of Atem. _Always with the puzzles, huh?_ he mused.

Atem fixed himself a bite to eat, and thought about the note. Taking all the capital letters at the beginning of each sentence, a second message inside the real message read 'POND AT NOON.' It was just subtle enough that if Atem hadn't been looking, he wouldn't have seen it. As it was, he could still elect to ignore it - scrap the note, go back and try to make up with Anzu, apologizing profusely; say he'd been blinded, coerced, tricked - and maybe he had been.

Atem rubbed his forehead, making a decision he hoped he wouldn't regret. He would go to the pond, and he'd try to keep an open mind. But what if Anzu was right when she said Yuugi had tricked him? What if he was just under an enchantment? Maybe even the paper had something on it...

_"I'll love you no matter what. I'd love you even if you were a witch!"_

Atem remembered his own words. He'd lied to Yuugi as well. He had betrayed his trust, his love. And even if the whole thing was fake, an enchantment; even if Yuugi would try to sway him again; Atem wanted - needed - an explanation.

Atem stood up. Who cared if he was early? He hurried out and quickly made his way to the pond.


	10. Chapter 10

Anzu sat on Mai's bed, staring blankly at the wall. She had told Mai what happened, leaving out the run-in with Atem. She honestly wasn't even thinking about Atem much at the moment. Her thoughts were running in circles, always coming back to thinking about what a horrible daughter she was; she didn't want to have to deal with him...but she was only gone for a few days...but she could have woken him up and said goodbye that very morning. When was the last time she told him "I love you"?

Mai walked into the room and sat on the bed with Anzu. She rubbed her back. After they sat in silence for a moment, Mai finally said, "I'm sorry you had to find him."

Anzu was quiet for so long that Mai thought she wasn't going to reply. She almost stood up and left when Anzu half-whispered, "It's okay. Do you think he's with God?"

Mai nodded resolutely. "I do, sweetie. I know it. And let me tell you, it will get better. Maybe not anytime soon, but eventually, you'll move on. You know he would want you to." She halfway stood up. "Here, I'm going to the market. I'll only be a minute, and when I get back, we'll find something to do, okay?" Mai waited for Anzu to nod before she stood up fully. She lingered in the doorway for a moment before sighing quietly and leaving.

Anzu lay down on the bed. The funeral would be tomorrow. Though the certain cause of death was debatable, it seemed as if he'd simply collapsed. Heart or lung problems, the doctors guessed. Heart attack was the most likely candidate. Nothing would have changed had she been there, they told her. But she couldn't help but think that maybe she could have called for someone and gotten help if she'd been with him. Or maybe if she hadn't put such a burden on him - chasing unrealistic dreams and disregarding the present - then they would have been closer...there'd have been less stress on his heart, and she could have watched his eating habits to make sure he was healthy; but instead she ran away from him at every opportunity. And now she would never be able to see him again.

She didn't know what to do. Now there was no one to stop her from dancing, except for herself. But if people could die so easily, so simply, so quietly, what was there to celebrate with dance? Atem would support her in whatever she chose - but no. There was no Atem in her life anymore; he'd flat-out betrayed her, and she decided to take a page out of Mai's book and tell herself that _she deserved better_ than a fickle boy who would ditch her on a whim. If he wanted to be with Yuugi, to hell with them both. Let them be together, as long as they wouldn't bother her anymore.

She eventually fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

Mai was concerned about Anzu. Anzu, who was usually so passionate about things, now she just seemed...broken. Hollow. Detached. Mai also felt bad for talking ill about her father. She'd been disrespecting a dead man! Mai shook off her misgivings and worries as she walked up to Katsuya's stall. She wasn't here for gossip today; just food. But she got more than she bargained for.

"Hello there, Mai," Katsuya greeted. "Got any news today?"

Mai sighed "Nothing on the witch. But Mr. Mazaki has passed away."

Katsuya tilted his head. "You ain't heard?"

Mai shook her head. "Heard what?"

Katsuya leaned in and said, "Well, I heard the witch was getting jealous, you know? So he finds a way to get rid of an obvious threat, Anzu, without _directly_ getting rid of her. Jinxed the dad, and all that." Katsuya sat back. "At least, that's what I was told."

Mai nodded her thanks and bought her food. She walked slowly back to her house, her thoughts preoccupied. She set the food in the kitchen then went to check on Anzu. She almost walked past her, sights set on the bedroom, so she didn't see the girl in the living room until she moved. 

"Oh!" she started. "When did you get out here?"

Anzu sat on the couch, looking at Mai curiously. "Not too long ago. What are you thinking about?"

Mai sighed and sat down with her. _Am I that obvious? Ugh, wait, don't answer that._ "Just some town gossip."

Anzu scowled. Mai, though not happy at the thought behind it, appreciated the action. It was the first real emotion Anzu had shown, besides sadness or apathy, since she'd gotten there. "What do they talk about?"

"Stupid things, like always," Mai answered truthfully.

This earned a hollow but half-hearted smile from Anzu. "What specific stupid things do they talk about?"

Mai hesitated. She didn't want to bring it up, but she felt like Anzu should know. "...His death."

Anzu swallowed. She'd braced herself for something like this. She'd cried herself dry, anyway. "What...What do they say?"

Mai looked at her worriedly. "Nonsensical things. You know, like his death wasn't an accident."

Anzu turned to her sharply. "What are they implying by that? That he was murdered?"

Mai thought about bailing. But no, if she did, Anzu would just hear it from someone else the moment she stepped outside. It was just a piece of gossip, but if Yuugi really was some cold-hearted creature who was capable of more than just tricking young men... Mai gathered her resolve. "Not so much a 'murder,' per say, almost like a...jinx."

Anzu tilted her head. "A jinx?" Her eyes widened in realization. "They're saying that..." Anzu abruptly stood up. "He...they're saying that Yuugi killed him! An innocent man - a pastor! Jealousy - it has to be." She laughed, but it was a bitter sound. "Added to the fact that at least I _had_ a father, unlike him. Oh, God - oh, _God_ , Mai! He still has Atem! I told myself we needed to leave him be, let him make his own choice; but this is so much more worse than I'd thought. The witch is ruthless and soulless and cruel, Mai." She gazed directly at her closest friend and supporter. "We need to save Atem and avenge my father. We need to get rid of the witch."

There was a fire in the girl's eyes again. She had a purpose. Anzu was finally back to normal, and Mai didn't know whether to be relieved or concerned.

* * *

Yuugi sat on the stump where he and Atem had rested together the first time they'd come here. He let out a shaky breath. He knew Atem would have understood his code; he didn't make it very difficult. The only reason he'd put it there at all was so that Atem knew he had a choice. Yuugi didn't directly ask him to come, so he wouldn't feel much of an obligation to come, he hoped. Just a little invitation. If Atem wanted to talk to him, he could, and he couldn't explain his presence away with guilt; Yuugi would know that he absolutely wanted to hear his reasons.

Though he'd been sitting there for sometime, Yuugi's nerves didn't calm. What if Atem didn't even let him speak? What if he just yelled at him then left? Yuugi hung his head and hugged his knees, playing the worst scenarios over and over in his head, each getting worse than the last. Atem bringing Anzu...Atem bringing a crowd, a mob...He was so wrapped in his own terrible thoughts that he didn't even notice someone burst into the clearing.

Atem was out of breath. He saw the still figure sitting against the tree stump. Still gasping, he stumbled over and embraced him.

Yuugi yelped, automatically starting to struggle. Atem pulled back immediately. Before Yuugi could even recover, Atem starting apologizing. "I'm so sorry. I'm just a stupid hypocrite who judges without even knowing all the facts. I got mad at you for lying about you being a witch, when I said I wouldn't care. I know you're mad, but I will definitely listen to your explanation."

Atem sat, unsure, in front of Yuugi, who was still processing the fact that Atem was actually _there,_ and apologizing at that. The silence stretched between them.

Yuugi embraced Atem and buried his head in his neck. Atem sighed in relief and wrapped his arms tightly around Yuugi. "I'm so, so sorry."

Yuugi smiled. "You don't need to apologize. I forgive you."

Atem, though ecstatic, was slightly confused. He pulled back and looked Yuugi in the eyes. "Thank you, but...why? How can you forgive so easily?"

Yuugi blushed. "Promise not to get mad?"

Atem chuckled. "I promise. What is it?"

Yuugi looked around and leaned in, like he was telling a big secret. "I can read minds," he whispered.

Atem's eyes widened. "Wh-what?"

Yuugi laughed loudly. "Joking, I'm joking!"

Atem scowled. "That was not funny!"

Yuugi snickered. "Was so."

Atem rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. Despite the fact that his stomach was tied in knots over what revelations might come next, he already felt lighter. He pulled Yuugi towards him and turned him around so that he was sitting on Atem's lap. "So, are you going to tell me what you _can_ do?"

Yuugi nodded and snuggled into Atem's chest. It felt so natural, dammit, that it was hard to remember that he'd just been thinking about this same man hurting him - killing him. It was too easy to love Atem, and Yuugi didn't understand how Atem could trust him so easily without Yuugi's skills. "First, though, an explanation." Yuugi got comfortable, took a deep breath, and began. "My mother and grandmother were both witches. My grandmother died before I was born. My father, though we didn't know it at the time, was also one. Male witches are very rare, but when they do happen, the father is almost always the witch - a male witch marries a woman and has a son, I mean. So, though I never met him, it's logical to assume that my grandfather on my dad's side was a witch as well. Here's the weird thing, though. If both parents are witches, the child usually either dies in the womb or posses no magical talent whatsoever and has some sort of defect. Magical overload, in a sense. The magic is either so great that a fetus can't handle it and dies, or the baby's body manages to expel all magic from the body before that happens - but when it tries to do that, it ends up damaging some other part of the body, like a limb, or even the brain. And another thing; there is both light and dark magic, so there are light and dark witches. My mother's side is all light, as far as I'm aware. It's not a hard and fast rule, though, just a rule of thumb. Anyway, when my mom was pregnant with me, she confessed to my father. He was so shocked that he left, explaining that he was a witch as well, and he didn't want a dead child or a useless one. My mother had me anyway. Though I was a normal infant, my mom was already protective of me. When I came out with ten fingers and ten toes, they'd assumed I had a mental defect. You can imagine their shock when they found me duplicating sweets in the kitchen when I was four. They found out that, aside from duplicating items of food, I could also tell when a person was lying to me, conjure a ball of light, a-and a few other things. My mother wouldn't let me around other kids because she was afraid I'd do or say something...weird. The first _real_ time I ever got out of the house alone was to get some food when my mom and grandpa were sick when I was thirteen. While I could duplicate food, I could only do so a certain number of times, so we still didn't have much to eat.

"Remember what I said about light and dark magic? Well, my mother never found out if my father was a dark or light witch. That's why she left, was to try and find him, so that I could know." Yuugi looked down at his hands. "I'm either the purest witch ever, with two light parents, or completely half and half."

Atem sat, going over all the information he'd learned. "You, Yuugi, would definitely have to be the most pure witch in existence," he decided.

Yuugi giggled. "Thanks. But I'm not sure." Yuugi crawled off Atem's lap and faced him. He held out his hands and cupped them. "I can do this," he said. His hands suddenly started to glow. Atem watched in amazement as the brightness came off his hands and formed a sphere that hovered slightly above his palms. Warmth radiated into the air around it.

After a moment, the light dimmed dimmed and and faded. Yuugi kept his hands out and added, "I can also do this."

Yuugi's hands got darker as a murky substance covered the whole of his hands. It had a chill around it, and Atem swore he heard whispering. "What...is it?" Atem asked, confused.

The _thing_ dissipated and Yuugi sat back. "A ball of shadows," he explained. "Same concept as the ball of light, but this one can actually be used as a weapon. What light witch can call shadows?"

Atem chuckled. "Well, shadows can't exist without light, now can they?" Atem pulled Yuugi back onto him. "I'm so sorry, you know. I just...I heard witch, and my first thought was that...that you'd sold your soul, or something. That you really were trying to..." Atem trailed off. "I'm so sorry," he repeated. "I'm sorry, and I love you. I told you I loved you, and I still do, okay?"

Yuugi looked up at him with watery eyes, and Atem knew that he could see the truth of his statements. Yuugi's voice was little more than a whisper as he said, "I'm glad you still love me, Atem."

Atem smiled and kissed the top of his head. "I could never stop." A thought suddenly hit him. "So...this means I could never lie to you?"

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you would otherwise?"

Atem's eyes got almost as big as Yuugi's. "No! Of course not, I was just-" He cut himself off when Yuugi smiled.

Yuugi started giggling. Louder, then louder, until he was shaking with laughter. Atem started chuckling as well, and before long he could feel his shoulder shaking and he threw his head back. Tears gathered in the corner of Yuugi's eyes, and Atem got a stitch in his side, but they didn't stop. And it felt as though all their tension, and nerves, and stress, dissipated, invisible, into the air along with their slightly hysterical laughter. And when they finally stopped, their laughter dwindling down to puffs of air, they laid together. Atem held Yuugi close, thinking about what he'd almost lost; Yuugi was extremely aware of the arms wrapped around him in a silent promise to love and protect, and even though Yuugi couldn't tell the truths or falsehoods of one's actions, he knew that Atem was completely and utterly sincere. They didn't speak. It wasn't until they heard a shill bird chirp that they were pulled out of their trance.

They stood slowly. Atem clasped Yuugi's hand, and they began to walk towards the village; they had to stop by Yuugi's house to get his things before going back to Atem's. As they walked together, they were followed by stares. Yuugi ended up pulling Atem down a number of alley-ways and shortcuts to avoid their reproachful glares. Thankfully, they soon got to Yuugi's house. The door, they found, was curiously opened. The pair walked carefully through the door and gasped at what they saw.

Ransacked. The entire place had been turned upside down. It looked like a windstorm had come through.

"Yuugi," Atem said. "When did this happen?"

Yuugi searched the room for anything salvageable. "Must have been while we were at the pond." He was unsettled, and wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Yuugi blinked and looked around in surprise. "Atem, I don't think anything was taken. And it looks like the broken things were only broken on accident," he said, gesturing to a haphazardly fallen lamp. Atem was skeptical, but he and Yuugi started the clean up. Yuugi used a bag that was already in the living room to get what he wanted from there. He knew his bandanna would be in the kitchen, so he went in there while Atem checked the bedroom.

Yuugi didn't find anything strange in the kitchen. It looked untouched compared to the living room. He quickly grabbed the things he knew he'd need and left to join Atem.

Atem had different luck. The moment he entered the room, he noticed something wrong. On the far wall, a message was hastily scrawled in large letters.

**LEAVE YOU ABOMINATION**

Atem didn't know if he wanted Yuugi to see this, but he didn't have much choice as the younger man walked up behind him. "Find anything?"

Yuugi noticed the message and gasped. He walked slowly towards it. He placed his hand on it and turned around. Atem saw his eyes watering dangerously.

"Oh, Yuugi." Atem walked over to him and held him tight. "Come on. Let's go home."

Yuugi nodded. Everything from the bedroom, except for the furniture, had been thrown into the living room, so he already had clothes. The pair exited the house with relief. However, it was short-lived, since as soon as they were outside again, even more whispers than before they'd entered the house followed them.

_"Oh, see, really similar."  
_

_"Yeah, I've seen him before."_

_"He even looks fake."_

They took roundabout paths and walked quickly to avoid the bulk of them. When they arrived back at Atem's house, it was later in the day. The sky outside was prematurely dark. Yuugi and Atem sat in front of the fireplace. A heavy silence hung over them, somehow so juxtaposed to the quiet that had enveloped them at the pond only hours ago.

"Why?" Yuugi finally asked. "Why would they do that? Who does that?"

Atem sighed. "I don't know, Yuugi. Fear of what is different. But no matter who it was, I won't let them get to you."

Yuugi sniffed and laughed quietly. "I'm the one with powers. Shouldn't I be protecting you?"

"Nope," Atem said simply. "You're the cuter one, so I have to protect you." Yuugi rolled his eyes but didn't protest. He knew Atem was trying to make light of the situation, but he could already feel the crushing guilt for dragging Atem back into this.

Then Atem grabbed his hand, as if he knew what Yuugi was thinking, and drew the smaller boy into a slow, deep kiss. And Yuugi felt like something had been lifted from him, because he knew now for sure that Atem wanted to be with him, that Atem loved him, and that Atem would stay by him and protect him as much as he was able. Yuugi promised to himself that he would reciprocate.

* * *

"Will you both be at the funeral?" Anzu asked. The two men with her nodded. One was the stall vendor, Honda. The other had dark black hair and bright green eyes. His long hair was tied back, and he wore makep. "Good," Anzu said. "Otogi, you said your uncle met a witch?"

The black-haired man, Otogi, nodded again. "Yeah. And the way he described him sounds a lot like this Yuugi fellow. Wore a glamour, was extremely jealous and possessive, was wrapped up with all that same-sex stuff. "

"yes, be sure to mention all of that. Honda, take a place in the crowd and call out agreements. It will get to people around you, and people around them, until everyone sees it."

Anzu obviously wasn't looking forward to the funeral. But she did have a plan to avenge her father and save Atem. It would all start tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> three cheers for copious use of ellipses


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so, i'm very fuckin lazy. apologies for that, but i'm having trouble revising the story. so from here on out, it will be word-for-word what my 13-year-old self wrote. forgive her; forgive me.

Yuugi rolled over with a groan as he woke up. He stretched, only for his foot to hit a solid object. He blinked and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Atem looked down at him with a look that said _finally up?_ Yuugi stuck his tongue out and hopped out of bed. Atem followed with a smile.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Atem asked as he entered the kitchen. Yuugi was already sitting at the table. He kept opening his eyes widely.

Yuugi sighed and grinned. He got up and walked over to Atem. "Well, what do we have?"

Atem looked at the pantry. "Not much. Bread, cheese, a few eggs, three apples, a handful of blackberries-"

"Oh!" Yuugi stopped him. "Can I just have some blackberries?"

Atem frowned. "Sure, but we hardly have any." He grabbed the berries and, indeed, there was only a bit.

Yuugi smiled. He grabbed the berries from Atem and ran over to the table. He set the berries down and cupped his hands over them. A whitish light came through the cracks in his fingers. Atem realized what he was doing a moment before he lifted his hands back up. There was what seemed like three times the amount of berries than there was before. Yuugi popped one into his mouth. "Want a few?"

Atem laughed and grabbed a berry. It was a bit unripe, but still good. "How many times can you do that?" he asked curiously.

Yuugi shrugged. "It depends. I could probably duplicate these berries one or two more times, but they'd keep getting blander. For, say, a large piece of meat, I can only do it once. A good-sized piece of bread, I can do twice, if I'm lucky."

Atem nodded and asked something else he'd been curious about. "Um, I know you said you can do some light magic. Is there any other dark magic you can do, though, besides the shadow ball?"

Yuugi shook his head. "Nope. Well, not that I know of. I just recently discovered the lying thing, and the shadow ball a little before that. So new abilities are possible, I guess."

"How can you tell that a person's lying to you?" Atem inquired.

Yuugi ate another blackberry. "Their face is just...off. And sometimes you can see a kind of darkish 'tint' around them. It's really weird."

Atem hmm'd. He tossed a blackberry in the air and caught it in his mouth. He grinned at Yuugi. Yuugi smiled back and grabbed one of his own. He tossed it in the air. It bounced around the edge of his mouth then fell in. Yuugi stuck his tongue out at Atem, who chuckled.

There was suddenly a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Atem announced.

"No, I've got it," Yuugi said. "I can take care of my self." He dashed out of the kitchen before Atem could stop him. He opened the front door and stared.

Four people stood outside. The one in the front, a woman, looked nervous but hopeful. Right behind her stood an anxious looking man. Next to him stood two boys, about Yuugi's age. But he only focused on the first person.

She had bright purple eyes and long black hair. Her face young was covered in worry lines, though some were laugh lines. She was tanner then Yuugi, but lighter than Atem. Her face lit up the moment Yuugi opened the door. So did Yuugi's.

"Mom?" he croaked out.

* * *

"Alright, quiet down all, the service is about to begin," a man standing at the front of the church said. He had steely blue eyes and neat brown hair. He was the mayor, Mr. Seto Kaiba, simply known as Kaiba to most.

They had already paid their respects, so everyone took their seats, with much sniffing and nose blowing. Since it was Mr. Mazaki's funeral, there was no Father. So Anzu had asked the mayor to do the service. Anzu sat in the front row, along with Mai and some of the other people who had worked in the church or knew him well. She had been asked to speak, obviously. It was expected of her.

"We all knew Nariel Mazaki. He was...a good pastor, father, and a devoted Christian man." While Kaiba personally wasn't particularly religious, he wasn't about to bring that up in a church.

He continued on with his speech, until Anzu was asked to come up. She was dressed in mourning clothes, all black. She started out by thanking everyone for coming today, though it was indeed a sad day. She talked about her father, his job, and his position in society.

"It is regrettable indeed to have lost him to death," she said. Then she started it. "It's terrible to lose a family member or loved one to old age or disease...but I do not believe that is how my father passed."

A collective gasp went through the room, even from those who'd started the rumor in the first place. Anzu swallowed loudly. "As some of you already know, there is a...witch...in this town."

Kaiba sighed inwardly. He, like some others in the crowd, didn't believe in that. They brushed this part of the speech off as paranoia. "And as you can clearly see, he's not even here. He didn't even feel enough guilt to own up to his heinous act."

By now, whispers and mumbled conversions were flying all over the place. _"Who does she mean?" "She really thinks it was murder?" "Murder by magic!" "Can it be true?" "It's crazy!" "It can't be real, she's just paranoid!"_

"It's true!" A voice rang out above the rest. The dull roar quieted considerably. Otogi stood up. "My uncle had a run-in with a jealous witch. Not even a week later, his wife passed." Whispers started up again, until he yelled out, " _And_! This witch I'm speaking of eerily resembles...Yuugi Muto."

There was no quieting them now. The crowd was on fire.

"We have to stop him!" an "anonymous" voice called loudly.

"Yeah!" more "random" people agreed. With just a bit of encouragement, the entire church was riled up. People were standing up and talking to each other, fists raised, excitement barely concealed under masks of indignation. Kaiba sighed. He wasn't even going to try to reason with these people.

"Yes!" Anzu yelled. "We need revenge! Justice! We know the witch has tricked Prince Atem, and murdered my father. We need to free the man, avenge the death, and burn the witch!"

The crowd roared in reply. And Anzu knew exactly where they were. She had already given them a warning; if they hadn't already left, they'd be in Atem's house.

"Grab what you need, take your wives and children back home. Some people will need to set up the cross. The witch must repent, but he can only do it one way for such grievous crimes—with death!"

* * *

Yuugi's eyes filled with tears as he hugged his mother tightly. "Mom, mom, I missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you too, baby boy," she replied. They held onto each other.

"Yuugi?"

"Ellen?"

The two pulled back as their boyfriends spoke simultaneously. Yuugi finally noticed the group behind his mother, and his mother noticed Atem.

"Yuugi, who's this? And why are you here? And why weren't you at home?" His mother shot out the questions like bullets, quick and small. Luckily, Yuugi was used to those.

"Atem, he lives here, and it was trashed." He elaborated a bit more. "They...found out. The place was ransacked, and a message was on the bedroom wall telling me to leave." Yuugi glanced behind him and smiled. Atem smiled back and moved up to stand beside him. "Atem here let me stay with him." Yuugi reached down and intertwined his and Atem's hands. "He's also...my boyfriend."

Elenora, to her credit, only showed a small bit of surprise. She nodded curtly. "Well, I suppose they had to find out at some point." She looked to Atem. "Nice to meet you. I trust you've been taking care of my son?"

Atem nodded. "Yes ma'am. And I do love him."

Elenora nodded more slowly. "Good. May we come in, then?"

"Of course." Atem and Yuugi moved out of the way. Ellen and the three strangers entered. Atem left the room and grabbed some extra chairs. He set them around the bench in front of the fireplace. Atem and Yuugi sat in chairs next to each other. Ellen and the older man sat on the bench, and the two strangers Yuugi's age sat in chairs across from him and Atem.

Yuugi got a good look at the stranger sitting next to his mother. He wore weird clothing. His shirt was black, not uncommon, but it was unusually tight. He had pale skin and eyes a cross between purple and red. He also had surprisingly familiar hair. "So...who's that?" he asked his mother.

Ellen took a deep breath. "Yuugi, this is Yami. Your father."

Yuugi's eyes widened. He looked at the man again. His hair had the same tell-tale star shape; his skin was the same shade. His age and eyes were the only difference.

Yami looked him over. He sighed. "Ah...hello. Er, sorry I left." He looked at Elenora with an "Am I doing okay?" expression.

"Then...why _did_ you leave?" Yuugi gestured to the two other people. One was very tan with blonde hair and violet eyes; the other was pale with white hair and brown eyes. "And who are they?"

Yami sighed. "That's a long story-" he started.

"We have time," Atem countered. Not even a second later, a shout was heard in the distance. Atem and Yami stood and darted out the front door. It was broad daylight, around eleven. The bright light was reflected off pieces of metal that Yami quickly identified- pitchforks. Intimidation items. Others, they saw as the crowd drew nearer, had more practical things. Many carried ropes, knives, daggers, and gags.

Yami was the first to recover. He slapped Atem's arm. "Get them out. Get them away."

"What?" Atem said. "How? Where?"

The pair ran back into the house. "Grab supplies, weapons, food, whatever. Ellen will know where to go. Do you have any outfits like Yuugi's, but bigger?"

Atem nodded, bemused. "Yeah, some...similar ones, I suppose. Why?"

"Get them." Atem nodded and went to get the clothes. Yami looked at the group, who was staring at him. "I'm going to buy you guys some time."

"From what?" the white-haired boy asked.

"They're on a witch hunt. Ellen, lead them to my house. I'll meet up with you all later." Atem came back and handed Yami the loose garments. He threw them on over his clothes. "Grab the things you'll need. Take them out a back way," he told Atem. "Quickly!"

Everyone started to rush around, grabbing anything they could. Yami ran outside to confront the mob that was after his son.


	12. Chapter 12

Atem passed out the bags to everyone. He was scared, but he didn't let anybody see. He turned to Yuugi's mother. "Elenora, you're going to have to lead the way to Yami's house."

Atem, who'd expected her to object and wait for Yami, was surprised when she nodded. She quickly took control of the situation. "Okay, I'll take the lead. Ryou and Marik, behind me. Yuugi, stay right in front of Atem. He'll take the rear." Everyone nodded and took up their positions. They headed out a back door into the open. Ellen had a destination in mind.

Yuugi moved up a bit to talk to the two strangers. "Hello," he greeted. "You guys are Ryou and Marik?"

They nodded. "I'm Ryou," the pale one said. "That's Marik," he gestured to the blonde. Marik nodded. "Nice to meet you, Yuugi."

"How do you two know Yami?" he asked. Atem had come up from behind them and listened in on the conversation.

"He knew mine and Marik's dads," Ryou answered. "My dad and Marik's both were friends with him. Mine died recently, Marik's quite some time ago. My mom didn't want to keep a witch in the house without another to train or keep me under control. Luckily, Yami took me in."

"Pretty much the same here," Marik added. "He had to play the father figure for me. He's a good dad. And a great teacher; you don't find many nice, male, dark witches anymore."

"Dark?" Yuugi asked. "So you're both..."

Marik nodded. "Dark witches, yes. That's how our fathers all knew each other. Mine was a jerk most of the time, honestly. I don't know how Yami put up with him."

"Mine was pretty bad too," Ryou added. "I take after him in terms of looks. It's funny, though; people say I look like I should be a light witch." He scowled. "I mean, it's not like I can choose my dad or my appearance."

They had been walking steadily into a forest. It kept out a surprising amount of sunlight. Yuugi opened his mouth to continue the conversation when he heard something from behind them.

"There! Hurry, get him!"

He turned and saw the mob, gaining steadily. Atem cursed. "Hurry, you three, run! Elenora, faster!"

Yuugi turned made ran after his mom, but he kept having one morbid thought. If the mob was here, it meant that they had gotten by Yami, and found out he wasn't Yuugi. And he doubted they would let an imposter be kept alive.

* * *

Yami stood confidently in the middle of the road. The crowd was slowly approaching, but when they saw him, their pace picked up noticeably. Anzu stood at the front. Yami crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. The crowd arrived and stopped a few meters away from him.

"Witch!" Anzu screamed.

Yami clapped sarcastically. "Oh, she can be taught!"

Anzu looked confused, and so did quite a few others. This Yuugi's voice was much different. His eyes and hair looked a bit different, too...

Yami saw their looks. He scoffed. "I don't need a glamour if you already know what I am, do I? I can drop the innocent charade."

Anzu scowled. "Where's Atem? What have you done with him?"

Yami smiled. "Oh, I've told him to go somewhere safe." His eyes flickered involuntarily in the direction he knew they'd gone.

Anzu noticed and pointed. "Half of you, that way!" A little less than half the crowd went in the direction she showed. "Bring him back!"

Yami cursed quietly. But he didn't let nerves show. He faced Anzu. "So, you know I'm a witch. Let me tell you something else; we love games." He stood there nonchalantly as he said, "Would you like to play one?"

Anzu was enraged. "What? No!"

Yami shrugged. "Well, if you win, I'll go without a fight. _And_ I'll tell you where Atem is."

Anzu shook her head. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not." Yami held up both his hands. "I swear. And I won't cheat. I keep my word. Besides, what have you got to lose?"

Anzu frowned. She finally wavered and said, "Okay." There was some muttering from behind her. "But you swear to come without any trouble?"

Yami grinned. "Why, of course. Just so you know, though, this is a game of darkness." He held up a hand, which was covered in a dark purplish mist, and snapped his fingers. He and Anzu suddenly stood in the road alone.

Anzu turned around, looking all over. "What did you do to them?!"

Yami sighed. "Nothing. I just transported us away so we could have some more privacy. I thought you would prefer a familiar setting."

Anzu scowled. "What's the game, already?"

Two dolls suddenly appeared in between them, floating at eye level. Anzu stumbled back a bit, surprised. They were identical in all aspects. They both had creepy black button eyes and a sewn-on smile. They wore simple green dresses and had no feet or hands. Their hair was long and made of regular brown yarn.

"The game," Yami said. He voice held a menacing edge. "You seem to claim you can tell what is pure, or human, from what has magic. So, I will infuse one of the dolls with shadows. You have to tell me which one is the dark one.

"There will be three rounds," Yami continued. "The number of dolls will double each round, but only one will ever be tainted. If you ever pick the wrong doll, you will be given a penalty game. However, the shadows whisper. So you're going to have to wear earplugs. I can't change the doll I chose after you pick. That would be cheating. And you can't take out your earplugs, or the consequences will be the same for if you had lost. But if you really can pinpoint magic, then this should be easy for you and you won't need to cheat. Understand the rules?"

Anzu nodded nervously.

"Good," Yami said. "Game start."

Anzu suddenly felt thick pieces of cotton in both her ears. She could only hear her abnormally fast heartbeat.

Yami focused his gaze directly between the dolls and closed his eyes. But a third eye seemed to open on his forehead. Anzu shrieked, but she couldn't even hear that. Yami, though he gave no sign of it, infused quite a large amount of dark magic into the doll on his right, which was Anzu's left. His eyes flew open, straight at Anzu. He didn't let his stare waver at all.

He grinned. He opened his arms and shrugged, telling her to pick. Anzu's gaze flew back and forth between the two dolls. She bit her lip nervously. Yami watched her, amused. Her face was pale and sweat was starting to form above her eyebrows. After a good two minutes, she abruptly pointed to the doll on her left. Yami raised an eyebrow in a gesture that said, _Are you sure?_ Anzu started to shake her head, but then nodded slowly.

Yami smirked. He checked Anzu's earplugs and saw they were still firmly in place. He walked slowly to the doll on his right, the one Anzu had picked. He held it and examined it all around. He held it at arm's length and activated the magic inside it. A murky cloud of smoke flew out, showing that it was indeed the dark doll. Both then disappeared.

Anzu sighed in relief. Then she grinned cockily like she'd known it all along. Yami bowed slightly in acknowledgment of her achievement. He walked back to his previous position and summoned four dolls. Anzu gulped.

Yami again infused a doll, this time the one on the middle right, the third from his left. He again gestured for Anzu to pick. Anzu was breathing heavily. She closed her eyes like she was feeling for which one was dark. Her chances of a blind guess were halved from the last round. Yami watched her with a smile playing on the edges of his lips. She bit her lip and opened her eyes. She swallowed audibly. She hesitantly chose the correct doll.

Yami checked her earplugs again and pointed at the doll for conformation. She nodded, going with her first guess. She took a deep breath.

Yami walked up to one of the incorrect dolls. Anzu seemed like she was about to try to change her mind, but Yami dissolved it, leaving nothing behind. It was clean. Anzu exhaled loudly. He walked over to another incorrect doll and did the same.

Yami grinned and walked over to the doll she'd picked, the tainted one. Anzu's eyes widened. She shook her head slightly. Yami laughed as a dark cloud of smoke clouded his face. Right once more.

Anzu was shaky. She laughed, but they came out more like hiccups.

Yami was having a great time. He hadn't had a fun shadow game in who knew how long. He felt her fear and apprehension at the unknown penalty game that would come if she lost. Her desperate need to win increased every second.

He summoned up eight identical dolls. He arranged them in two rows, with four in each. He chose his doll.

Anzu's hands shook. She knew she couldn't get through this last round on luck. Could there be a way to get out the earplugs? Besides, unless she directly reached up and pulled them out, how would Yuugi ever know she had cheated? Testing it, she covered her mouth, as if in despair, which she wasn't totally faked. She opened her mouth widely and quickly closed it. She did it again, and felt the plugs loosen.

Suddenly hopeful, but trying not to show it, Anzu moved her mouth around and bit the inside of her lips. The right bud loosened even more. She could hear indistinct whispers, but couldn't tell which on it was coming from. She moved her chin around like she was thinking. The right one almost popped out. Luckily, it stayed in, barely setting inside her ear. She could easily tell which doll the whispers came from; the one on her bottom left.

Yami smirked. He had known almost immediately what she was trying to do. Just as Anzu was about to pick, he said, "Cheating is against the rules." Even if Yami hadn't already known, Anzu would have given herself away right then. She looked toward him like a frightened rabbit and gulped. "You know what happens if you cheat," he continued, deadly serious.

"Penalty game!" he suddenly shouted. "Illusion of jealousy!" The golden eye flashed on his forehead again. They were abruptly jerked back to the real world. To everyone else, it had appeared as if the pair had just flashed in and out of existence. They all gasped and backed away when they saw Anzu. She was on her knees, clutching her head.

Anzu looked at the people around her and screamed. They were all Atem. She had a dozen Atems just staring at her. She looked back across the road at Yuugi, to find that he had transformed into an Atem too.

"No, no, no..." She started backing away slowly, then ran back into town.

Yami grinned at the people who write staring at him in shock. "She cheated," he informed them. They stared at him for a good three seconds before they broke and ran away too. Yami chuckled and headed quickly after his group.


	13. Chapter 13

Yuugi sprinted through the forest, hearing the mob shout behind them.

_"Stop! Now!"_

_"Hey, who are the other people?"_

_"Who cares? Take them too!"_

Yuugi glanced behind him and saw the crowd gaining, and Atem falling behind. He looked ahead to see that the other three wouldn't be slowing down anytime soon. "Atem!" he called back. "Come on!"

"I'm-" Atem stumbled, but didn't fall.

_"Is that the witch?"_

_"No, we left him back there!"_

_"But couldn't he teleport or something?"_

Atem suddenly caught up to Yuugi, panting heavily. They ran together and got closer to Elenora, Ryou, and Marik. Atem ran right behind Yuugi for a while, when an arrow hit him from behind. He fell forward.

_"Did you get him?"_

_"I think so!"_

_"No, you hit the wrong one!"_

"Atem!" Yuugi shouted. He stopped and ran back to the older man. "Atem get up," he begged. Blood flowed out from his shoulder, slowed only by the arrow embedded in it. "Wake up, come on, you can't die now..." He slapped Atem's cheek lightly. "You can't have already died!"

Yuugi heard people closing in on him. He turned to the crowd. They were still quite a ways away, but getting closer every second. Yuugi called on the part of himself he rarely thought of; the part where the shadow ball ability came from. The dark mist enveloped him, not just his hands but his whole body. He called sadness, hurt, anger, and threw it at the crowd behind him.

A number of dark spots flew through the air and hit almost every one of the people in the crowd. They stopped dead and collapsed. Not literally dead; at least, Yuugi didn't think so.

Then the tears started to fall. He might have gotten them out of danger for the moment, but he couldn't bring Atem back. He put his head close to Atem's mouth hoping, waiting...

Nothing. Yuugi sobbed. He was about to pull back when Atem sucked in a ragged breath.

Ellen and the others appeared in front of them. They took in Yuugi, Atem, and the seemingly knocked out crowd. Elenora knelt by her son. "Oh, Yuugi..."

Yuugi sniffed. "He's still alive, for the moment. How far away are we?"

Ellen picked Atem up. "Not far at all. Come on, we should hurry."

Ryou looked at Yuugi. "Are you okay?"

Yuugi nodded.

"What did you do to those guys?" Marik asked curiously. He gestured to all the passed out people who were scattered all over the place. They weren't moving, but their chests rose and fell regularly. The three started after Ellen.

Yuugi shook his head. "I...don't know."

"Looks like dark magic," Marik said. "We've heard a bit about you, too; both parents are witches? How does that work?" He was trying to take Yuugi's mind off Atem's condition.

Yami suddenly showed up behind them. He grinned at Ryou and Marik. "I saw those guys. Which one of you did that? It was real powerful."

Ryou pointed to Yuugi. Yami looked at his son, surprised. "You did? But where did you get training in dark magic?"

Yuugi shrugged. "I didn't," he said curtly.

Yami was confused. "Why-?"

"Atem's hurt," Ryou informed him.

Yami scowled. "Dammit." He ran up to Elenora. "How's he looking?"

"Not good," she said. "Here, carry him for a second. Go on to the house, we'll meet you there in a minute." Yami nodded. He quickly took Atem and started back to his house.

"Are you alright?" Ellen asked Yuugi, concerned.

"Yeah," Yuugi said. "Will Atem be okay?"

She rubbed her arm. "I'm sure he will."

They walked in silence the rest of the way to Yami's house. It was good sized, not too small but not overly large. It had a secluded but comfortable feeling to it. Yuugi entered first to see Yami setting Atem on the couch. He ran over to them. He knelt by Atem's side. He looked up at Yami. "Why didn't you take the arrow out?"

"We will," Yami said, "but it'll be dangerous. We can't let him lose too much blood, but we obviously can't keep the arrow in. And healing isn't exactly my forte."

Elenora walked up behind them. She rested a hand on Yuugi's shoulder. "Why don't you all go rest? I'll take care of him. The moment his condition changes, for better or worse, I'll come get you."

Yuugi nodded and stood up. Yami showed them to a back room where they could all sit comfortably. They say in silence for a while before Ryou said, "Yuugi?"

Yuugi turned to him. "Yeah, Ryou?"

"I was...still wondering...how you did that thing back there?" he seemed hesitant to ask the question, like he didn't want to bring it up.

Yuugi sighed. "I really don't know."

"It was impressive," Yami complimented him to keep the conversion going. He didn't want Yuugi to worry too much about Atem. "How much can you do?"

"Dark magic-wise? Not much." Yuugi called a shadow ball casually. "This, and what you saw back there. I don't know how I did the other thing though." Yuugi looked up to the suddenly silent room. They were all staring at him. He frowned. "What?"

"Not much?!" Marik shouted. "You- You can summon shadows!" He looked at Yuugi in awe. "Seriously, who taught you?"

"No one," Yuugi insisted. "Is this not a common thing?"

"No," Yami said. "It's definitely not. I can call shadows; I've been trying to teach Ryou and Marik, but neither can yet. I was starting to think this was a hereditary thing instead of a learned skill. You honestly didn't learn this from somewhere?"

Yuugi shook his head. Yami chuckled a bit. "Well, I suppose that's not too surprising, just considering you're actually alive."

"Huh?" Ryou said. "Why shouldn't he be alive?" He didn't know much about the magic world, since his father never really talked about it, other than to teach him the basics.

"Both his parents are witches," Yami explained. "When both parents are light, the magic cancels out, the same for if they were both dark. But when there is one of each, the dark magic and light magic don't like to coexist in the same being. So they fight. Obviously, one side has to win, and the winning side tries to get rid of the losing. But a person can't live with only half of themselves, and they die.

"Yuugi, with both a light and dark parent, should have died. I hadn't known Ellen was a witch when I met her, so I left when I found out. I was expecting a dead child, because I just couldn't see her being dark. She found me some time ago, and told me that our son was alive and had magical talent. I moved here so I could be closer to you both, then we came to get you. And I've now seen first-hand how strong your magic is, Yuugi. You're truly special."

Yuugi shook his head. "I agree that's weird but...you just left us. You didn't even ask, did you? My mother might have been dark, you couldn't have known. And so what if I had been dead? You would have left her without anything!"

Yami looked pained. "I-I know. And I'm sorry. I know nothing I do can ever make up for that, but I'll try. Please, just give me a chance. You're wonderful, Yuugi, and I truly regret not being there to be a father to you when you were growing up."

Yuugi pursed his lips. "I can't just forgive you. Still, I will give you another chance. But," he continued, "if you ever leave my mother again..." He trailed off.

Yami nodded. "Of course."

"I hate to interrupt," Marik said, "but I'm still wondering how Yuugi can do all of this stuff. And you said 'dark magic-wise' earlier. How much other magic can you do?"

Yuugi shrugged modestly. "I can duplicate food, tell when a person's lying, and this." He called the ball of light. "But it doesn't seem to have much use besides, well, being light."

"So you can do both light and dark magic, added to the fact that you're actually alive," Ryou mused aloud. "Well, maybe the light and dark sides just decided to live in peace together? I mean, Yami's nicer than a lot of other dark witches. Maybe it couldn't get rid of the light?"

"Ryou, that's-" Marik frowned. "Not crazy." He looked at Yami. "It sounds weird, but what if you had a bit of light in you that you passed on to Yuugi? Then he'd be mainly light, with a touch of dark, but he could still live."

"And maybe, like, the different sides compliment and enhance each other," Ryou added. "Yuugi does seem pretty powerful."

"They might be right," Yuugi said. "What do you think, Yami?"

Yami nodded. "It seems a bit strange, but not impossible. I'm still thinking about that ball of light, though."

"What about it?" Yuugi asked. Yami's eyebrows drew together. "Well, the shadows are used for destruction or chaos. Not always that extreme, but you get the point. What if the light essence could be used for healing?"

Yuugi gaped. "Essence? You mean I can call the essence of shadows?"

"That's what it feels like," Yami confirmed. "So I assume it's a light essence you call when you do the ball of light."

"And if the light can be used for healing..." Ryou started.

Yuugi looked hopefully at Yami. "Would it work on Atem?"

Yami seemed hesitant to answer. "...Maybe. You've never used it this way, though?" Yuugi shook his head. Yami sighed. "Well, I suppose we can always try."


	14. Chapter 14

Anzu ran through the streets, not even bothering to look around her anymore. She ran straight back to Mai's house. The girl had stayed at home, not directly participating in the hunt.

She burst through the door. Mai was sitting on the couch. Though, of course, it wasn't Mai.

Anzu ran back to her room, and slammed the door. She sat down in front of it. She heard a hesitant knock on the other side.

"Anzu? What happened?" It was still Mai's voice, thankfully.

But Anzu was still too afraid to see what she looked like. "I lost," she whispered. "I cheated," she said, louder.

Mai stood in silence for a moment. "Anzu, you're not making any sense. Just tell me what happened."

Anzu sighed. "He said he'd come without a fight if I did, so then we played a game, but I cheated and he gave me a penalty, and now you're all Atem." She explained her situation in a surprisingly calm voice.

Mai didn't say anything. Anzu eventually heard her slide down on the other side of the door. "Girl, you know it's magic, right? We aren't all really Atem. He just wanted to make you scared of that face, so you won't bother them."

"Well, I won't," Anzu said. "I'll leave that scheming witch alone. If Atem really wants to stay with him...whatever. He's just condemning himself. I tried to help, but..."

Mia opened the door carefully. Anzu moved aside to let her in. And this time, it really was Mai. Anzu stood and hugged the older woman. "Thank you for everything, Mai."

Mai waved it away. "It's not a problem. And you know what I heard? There's a group of traveling dancers passing through here. They're recruiting."

Anzu smiled sadly. "Then who would be in charge of the church?" She abruptly frowned. "And who's going to find the group I sent after Atem..."

* * *

Yuugi lead the way into the main room. Ellen was kneeling over Atem, and had both hands placed on his wounded shoulder. She saw them come in and shook her head. "Nothing's changed yet," she said grimly.

Yuugi moved next to her. "Mom, you know that ball of light I can summon?"

She suddenly got very excited. "Yes! Yuugi, I learned about that while I was traveling. It's called 'Lux.' I'd completely forgotten to tell you! It can be used to heal, if my information was reliable."

"Where'd you learn about that from?" Yami asked.

"Would it work on Atem?" Yuugi said hopefully.

Ellen looked at the arrow still in Atem's shoulder. "Probably, but I'd say we're going to have to remove the arrow first." She looked up at Yami. "An old witch a few towns away from where you lived. She was the town healer, and said that Lux was an immensely pure substance, and that every generation there are only a handful of witches who can call it."

"What about the shadow ball?" Ryou asked.

Elenora frowned. "What do you mean?" Yuugi quickly explained it to her, and how he had gotten rid of the mob with it. Ellen nodded in recognition. "Umbra. Same concept with Lux, but, well, the exact opposite. I'll explain it more later," she said. "For now, let's make sure Atem's okay."

She called Yami over. Yuugi turned away, and so did Ryou and Marik. They heard them push the arrow the rest of the way through the shoulder. Atem groaned. Yuugi heard them snap of the end of the arrow and pull the head out. "Okay, Yuugi," Ellen said. "Hurry."

Yuugi gulped and turned. He didn't let himself look directly at Atem's wound. He placed his hand in Atem's shoulder, and felt the blood seep through his fingers. His stomach turned and he felt nauseous. He quickly called the ball of light, Lux. Yuugi felt the bright, healing light surround Atem, focusing especially on his injury.

The light faded and Yuugi pulled his hand back slowly. The blood was still flowing. Yuugi looked at his mother, panicked. "Why didn't it work? What do we do now? What did I do wrong?" Yuugi was getting hysterical.

His mother rubbed his back. "Shh, let's calm down and think about this. Have you ever tried to do this before?"

Yuugi took a deep breath and shook his head.

"But should it matter?" Marik asked. "You said you'd never done the shadow- er, Umbra before either."

"Right," Yuugi agreed. "Okay, so why did that one work then, but this one won't now?"

Yami frowned. "When you were using Umbra, did you say or think anything specific?"

Yuugi bit his lip. "I don't think I said anything. Or even though anything coherent. Just...anger, fear, sadness."

"So make Lux with the opposites!" Ryou said. "Love and hope!"

"How do I _make_ it with those?" Yuugi said. He looked fearfully at Atem. The blood hadn't stopped, and Yuugi knew time was ticking away.

"How did you do it last time?" Ellen asked. She kept her voice calm, for her son's sake if nothing else.

Yuugi shrugged helplessly. "I just...felt it!" The blood was soaking Atem's shirt.

Yami looked at Yuugi. "Just take those emotions." Yuugi took a steadying breath and nodded. He again placed his hands on Atem, not caring about the blood, just needing to save him. "Okay," Yami continued. "Guide the feelings. Add them to Lux, and do what you did the first time. And believe it will work."

Yuugi closed his eyes tightly. He again called Lux, this time doing as Yami instructed. He poured his love and hope that this would work into the mix, and at first the process didn't differ from his first try. The light got brighter and brighter, and the skin under Yuugi's hand became strangely warm.

Yuugi focused completely on his task. Unlike with Umbra, when it had just been a quick burst, this was a time-consuming task. Healing was much harder than harming, Yuugi found. Atem's skin continued to heat up until it was almost feverish. Yuugi started to get worried. Was this supposed to be happening? He suddenly gasped. Yuugi could actually _feel_ Atem's skin closing beneath his fingers.

The light abruptly faded. Yuugi picked up his hands. There was still blood, but the skin had closed over. It looked like Atem would have a nasty scar, but other than that, he appeared fine. His breathing had evened out, Yuugi noticed happily.

It seemed like everyone else in the room exhaled simultaneously. Yuugi looked at those behind him. He raised an eyebrow. "What? Didn't think I could do it?"

They grinned sheepishly. Marik spoke up. "Nope," he said truthfully, and grinned. "But you still did, didn't you?"

Yuugi laughed. His stomach was still doing flips, but he was relieved. He never wanted to have to go through anything like that again. He heard something shift behind him. Yuugi turned and saw Atem trying to sit up.

Atem saw everyone staring at him. "What?" he asked. He looked at Yuugi. "What is it?"

Yuugi walked over and sat down next to Atem, who had succeeded in achieving a sitting position. He groaned and rubbed his shoulder. "Did something happen?"

"Do you not remember?" Yuugi asked. He grabbed Atem's hand. "You got shot." He pointed to his mother, who was still holding the broken arrow.

Atem frowned. "I...when? Who shot me?"

"When we were running from the mob," Yuugi told him. "I actually don't know who shot you, though."

"They're probably still knocked out if you want to try to find them," Yami suggested.

Ellen shook her head. "And what exactly would you do if you did?"

Yami shrugged innocently. "I don't know. We could play a game." Ellen scowled and slapped his arm lightly. Yami smirked.

"Knocked out?" Atem asked. "I remember the mob, but you're saying they're all unconscious?"

Yuugi nodded shyly. "Er, yeah. You see, I-"

"Yuugi used Umbra!" Ryou piped up. "It's a shadow ball thing, and it knocked everyone out! He used Lux, which is the light one, to heal you."

"Over-simplify much?" Marik mumbled.

Yuugi giggled and said to Atem, "I used Umbra, which is the shadow ball, though we're not exactly sure why I can. It's the 'essence' of the shadows. It knocked the mob unconscious. An arrow had hit you in your shoulder. We carried you back here and got it out. I used Lux, the light ball, to heal you. It's the opposite of Umbra, and is the 'essence' of light."

"Okay," Atem said, not really following.

"How about we let Atem rest?" Elenora suggested. "I'm sure he's very tired."

"I'm fine," Atem immediately protested. "Besides, I'm curious. You said you weren't sure why you could do it."

Yuugi nodded. "Yeah. Yami can do the shadow ball, so he can summon Umbra. My mom found a lady who could summon Lux. But we don't know why I can do both."

"Maybe it's just a random thing?" Atem suggested. "Unless there's someone in your family who can summon, um, Lux. Then it could be hereditary."

Elenora frowned. "I don't think my grandmother had it...and I'm not sure about her mom. She died before I was born. It's possible, though."

"But even if Yuugi's great-grandmother had it," Marik said, "where is the pattern in that? His great-grandmother and his father?"

"Do you know anyone else who had the shadow power before you?" Yuugi asked Yami.

"My father, I know for sure," Yami said. "Other than that, though..." He shrugged.

"Maybe being able to use Umbra is more common than the ability to use Lux?" Ryou suggested. "Ellen, you said the old witch said only a few each generation could use Lux, right? Did she say anything about Umbra?"

Elenora shook her head. "Besides the name, no. She didn't really want to talk about it."

Atem frowned. "Maybe it _is_ random? And it just so happened that Yuugi inherited both powers?"

Yami nodded. "Could be. And Yuugi..." Yami grinned at his son. "You've just had quite a bit of practice with Lux. Would you want a bit more practice with Umbra?"

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. "How?"

Yami looked pleadingly at Elenora. "Oh, come on! I'm sure Yuugi wouldn't object to finding the person who shot Atem. A little payback never hurt anyone."

She pursed her lips, and eventually sighed. "Fine. Just be careful, and know that I don't support this."

Atem smiled slightly at Yuugi. "Are you going to go get the person who hurt me?"

Yuugi laughed. "If I can. I have to protect you, remember?" He leaned over and kissed Atem quickly on the lips before his expression became more solemn. "I won't let anyone get away with hurting you, alright?"

And despite the fact that Atem was unnerved to see Yuugi look so serious about hurting people, he couldn't help the warm feeling that spread through his chest. "Alright."


	15. Chapter 15

"No, no, no..." the man muttered as he sank to his knees. His light blue hair flopped around his shoulder and he closed his gold and green eyes tightly. "I didn't cheat, I swear!" he yelled. Their dark environment suddenly disappeared and they were in the woods again, surrounded by the still bodies.

Dartz heard the witch shout something that he couldn't hear over his own ramblings. He opened his eyes hesitantly and screamed. An arrow was embedded in ever body. But he'd only shot one...had he killed them all? Even the two witches in front of him were impaled. The injured bodies around him began to move. He screamed again. He shakily climbed to his feet and ran. Away from the madness behind him.

Yuugi breathed out. He glanced at Yami. "How'd I do?"

Yami grinned at him gave him a high five. "Great! Nice archery game, by the way." Then he got stern. "But don't abuse the power to create a shadow game. It is used to judge a person who has done wrong. Yes, people will always make mistakes. But unless they are truly corrupt, they will win the game, and you yourself will be punished for your false judgement. And if they truly regret it, they can only become a better person by learning from their mistakes."

Yuugi nodded solemnly. He looked around at the people who were beginning to stir. "What are we going to do with them?" There had to be around twenty men of various ages, from young men to middle-aged ones. Most of them still had weapons of some kind.

Yami studied them and shrugged. "Likely, they'll all remember being knocked unconscious by a big, bad witch, decide to cut their loses, and head on back to town. I doubt they'll take the time to investigate around here, especially if they find Dartz running around, seeing dead bodies everywhere."

They headed back to Yami's house. It was late in the day by the time they got there, and they entered to see Atem and Ellen fixing dinner in the kitchen. Atem noticed them first. He smiled at Yuugi. "How did it go?"

Yuugi smiled back. "Good, I think." He walked into the kitchen. "Do you two need any help?"

"Oh, yes please, Yuugi," Ellen said. She gestured for him to come closer. Yuugi walked over and she showed him a small cut of meat and an onion. "Could you get us a little more meat, and cut up the onion when you're done?" Yuugi nodded and began his task.

Yami quietly backed out of the kitchen, and headed to the back room to check on Ryou and Marik. Ryou was practicing his magic while Marik was taking a nap. Nothing new there.

Yuugi handed his mother the meat, then began chopping the onion. His eyes watered a bit, but he quickly finished his task and gave the onion to Atem. He nodded his appreciation and gave Yuugi a quick kiss before turning back around.

Yuugi peeked over his shoulder. "What are you fixing?"

Atem put the onion pieces in a bowl and answered, "A salad. We have lettuce, carrots, onions, broccoli, and celery. Speaking of..." He grabbed a few stalks of celery and handed one to Yuugi. "Help me cut these up?"

Yuugi, Ellen, and Atem soon finished preparing the meal. Yuugi went to grab the rest of the group, and they all sat down at a table in the dining room. They each had a plate of salad and half a piece of meat. Ellen sat at the head of the table, and Yami sat opposite her. Yuugi and Atem sat on one side, and Ryou and Marik at on the other.

"Nice salad," Ryou complimented Atem after they had been eating for a while.

"Thank you," Atem said. "Though I did have a little help." He nudged Yuugi, who nudged him back, grinning.

Yami cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "Atem, Yuugi, I've been wondering about the house you two were living in together. Do many people know that you lived there, and might have done something to the house?"

Atem frowned. "Anzu knew I lived there. Would they have tried something?"

"It's unlikely," Yami admitted. "They couldn't have done it before the shadow game, and I don't think any of the people would have wanted to go back there, knowing who lived there. I'm not positive though, so we might want to be careful if we go back to check it out."

"Do you think we could later today?" Yuugi asked. "Oh! Where are Marik and Ryou going to live, by the way?" The two boys in question looked curiously at Yami. They had been living with him before, but now he would be sharing a house with Ellen. Where would they go?

Yami looked at Ellen, leaving the decision up to her. She smiled at Ryou and Marik. "You're more than welcome to stay here, but you can go where ever you want. We have enough room, but if you would rather live somewhere else, that's fine too."

Ryou looked over at Marik, who shrugged. "You can go wherever, but, no offense Yami, I'm going to try to find a new teacher. I've been with you for a while now, and I don't know how much more you have to teach me. I think I'll be fine on my own until I find one. I've almost got that mind control trick down, too."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you'd have already mastered it if you practiced instead of taking naps. And I think I'll just stay here; I'm sure I still have more I could learn."

Yami nodded at their decisions. "You're all welcome to stay as long as you like, until you're ready to leave."

They eventually finished the meal and Yuugi and Atem retreated to a room together upstairs after clean-up. Ryou stayed downstairs and talked with Yami while Ellen helped Marik get things ready for when he'd be leaving in a few days.

The room was a den, with a few comfortable sitting places and other things scattered around on the floor. Atem sat with Yuugi right next to him, leaning his head on Atem's shoulder.

"Yuugi," Atem suddenly said, "what are you going to do?"

Yuugi turned his head and looked at Atem, confused. "What do you mean?" he questioned.

Atem sighed. "Marik's going to look for a teacher. Wouldn't you need one too? I mean, you know, you'll need to learn someway to better control Umbra and Lux, right? I'm sure there's more you could do with them besides healing, knocking people out, or creating shadow games..." He trailed off to see Yuugi smiling.

"Atem, do you really think I'd go traveling randomly to find a teacher, just leaving you here? Besides, I have my parents. They're pretty powerful, too. And if I ever do need a different teacher, well, I'm sure they would come find me."

Atem grinned. "Good. Because I'd follow you if you did, anyway."

Yuugi laughed. "More like I'd be forcing you to come along. I couldn't travel alone."

Atem put an arm around Yuugi. "Well, if you ever need anyone to practice on, I'm here."

"Huh?" Yuugi said.

"With any new magic," Atem explained. "Take your lie detector ability. I would tell you truths and lies, and you would say which is which. Or, if I get hurt again, you'd heal me. You could even practice with Umbra. You can try, say, knocking me out like you did to the mob." He shrugged. "Anything, really."

Yuugi shook his head vigorously. "I wouldn't want to use it to hurt you! I don't think I could use Umbra on you."

Atem smiled. "I'm not telling you to; just that if you ever need anyone to practice something on, I'm here."

Yuugi sighed and laid his head back on Atem's shoulder. "You're too nice and helpful. You don't think about yourself."

"But I think about you," Atem said. "And if you have to protect me, can't I at least help make you better at it?"

Yuugi giggled and shook his head tiredly. "No. Not on dangerous things, at least. Well," he amended, "unless I get _really_ mad at you."

Atem chuckled as his arms encircled Yuugi. "What would make you really mad at me?" Seeing Yuugi's look, he rolled his eyes. "So I can _avoid_ doing it. And I don't want to get hurt, just help."

"You getting hurt would make me mad at you," Yuugi answered. "Though I suppose it'd be more at directed at the person who hurt you..."

Laughing, Atem said, "Never mind." He craned his neck and kissed the top of Yuugi's head. "More importantly, what would make you happy?"

Yuugi snuggled into Atem's neck. "I don't think much else could make me happier than being with you."

Atem grinned. " I love you, Yuugi, you know that?"

Yuugi nodded. "And I love you too."

Yuugi moved up his head and caught Atem's lips in a kiss. They stayed like that, together, until the door suddenly creaked open. Ryou saw the pair jerk apart. He giggled. "Sorry to interrupt, but Yami was wondering if you two wanted to go ahead and check out your house?"

Yuugi, though he was blushing, nodded. "Sure. You want to go, Atem?"

Atem shrugged. "Whatever you want to do. I'm fine with going over now."

"Okay," Ryou said. "You guys, me, and Yami will be heading over there in a few."

Yuugi nodded. "Sounds good."

* * *

The sun was threatening to set as they walked through the woods. The people who'd been hit by Umbra were gone, Yuugi noticed.

They continued on until the house came into view. They walked up to it cautiously. There seemed to be no one loitering around, so they went inside. The house looked normal, nothing out of place or suspicious. Yuugi sighed in relief, before remembering something. He found Atem, who was checking his bedroom.

"Hey," he began. "What do you think happened to my old house?"

Atem frowned. "I don't know. Would you want to go check it out?"

Yuugi shook his head. "No, I was just curious. I don't think I'd want to go back into town, anyway."

"We could ask Ryou to look, if you really want to know," Atem suggested. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Who wouldn't mind what?" Ryou walked up behind them.

Yuugi turned to face him. "Nothing. We were just wondering about what happened to my old house, but I don't want to go back into town to see because I'm not sure how people would react to seeing me."

"Nobody would recognize me," Ryou pointed out. "I could go into town and check for you, if you want me to," he offered.

Atem looked pointedly at Yuugi. "See?" He turned his attention back to Ryou. "Would you? You don't have to; we're just curious about it."

Ryou smiled. "I wouldn't mind at all. I'll go on and do that now."


	16. Chapter 16

Ryou walked into town carefully. Surprisingly few people were out, and almost all of those who were walked in pairs or groups. Ryou looked them over, and they studied him. No one approached him, though he did get a few odd looks.

He made his way to Yuugi's house. Yuugi had given him directions, and he quickly arrived at his destination. The door was shut, or so it seemed at first. Upon closer inspection, Ryou found that it was slightly ajar. He pushed it open cautiously. There was no one in the front room, but it wasn't wrecked like Atem had warned him it probably would be. There was nothing in the kitchen, either. He was about to check out the bedroom when a person walked out.

Ryou jumped back, surprised. The other person clearly hadn't expected anyone to be there, either; he almost fell over backwards. He had blonde hair and amber eyes, and was fairly tall. He quickly recovered and looked at Ryou suspiciously. "What are you doing here? Have I met you before?"

Ryou smiled innocently at the stranger. "No, I don't believe we have. I'm new here, you see. Who are you?"

"Katsuya," the man answered. "What are you doing..." Katsuya suddenly blinked. "So, what's your name then?"

Ryou grinned widely and celebrated inwardly. Though he was fairly memorable, with his pale, white appearance, he was getting better at removing himself from a person's memories. "Ryou," he replied, seeing no reason to lie. "What are you doing here?" he asked, turning the question around.

"Cleaning," Katsuya said with a slight eye roll. "Some little brats had thought up the wonderful idea to try to scare away a witch by vandalizing his property. So I, being the nice person I am, get stuck with the task of cleaning up their mess."

Ryou looked around, confused. "But I heard from some other people that the witch left town. Why repair the house if he left?"

Katsuya shrugged, scowling. "It's still a house, isn't it? It's still livable, though I don't see why whoever comes here next couldn't have done all this damn work themselves." He stretched, and said, "Well, nice meeting you, Ryou. I gotta get back to my stall." He left the house.

Ryou took a few more moments to look around, and then exited as well. Before he stepped back outside, he cloaked himself in a forget-me spell. It wouldn't make him "invisible," per say, it just encouraged people's gazes to slide over him.

As he passed by the church, he saw a tall, standoffish man talking to what appeared to be a ditzy blonde woman.

"She would not have simply up and left, Mai! She knows she has responsibilities; I refuse to believe that she would give up everything to _dance,_ " he said, spitting out the last word with no small amount of distaste.

"That's just the sort of reaction she wants to get away from, Seto!"

"Don't call me—" he began, only to be cut off again.

"And besides, those responsibilities to the church?" the woman continued airily. "Otogi has them covered!"

The man looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel. Ryou wisely decided to hurry away.

He made it back to Atem's house without further incident. He ended the spell and opened the door to see Yuugi sitting on the bench, looking confusedly at his hands. The chairs from earlier had been moved back to their original spots.

"Hey, Yuugi," Ryou greeted. Yuugi looked up with a start, smiling when he saw who it was.

"Hey, Ryou! Yami already headed back home. Thanks for going out, by the way. I hope you didn't have too much trouble."

Ryou walked over and sat next to Yuugi. "No, I only ran into one person, and he didn't cause a problem. He was actually in your house. They've cleaned it up, so it's ready for whoever moves in next."

Yuugi sighed. "People move on, I guess." He suddenly chuckled. "Though I wonder what they'd do if I walked back into town..."

"What were you doing just now?" Ryou asked, changing the subject.

"Testing out something," Yuugi told him. "Atem was telling me I could practice my magic on him, but I don't want to hurt him, you know? So I was trying to do it on myself. But I can't." Yuugi summoned Umbra again, and continued, "I tried causing an illusion of pain on myself. Nothing serious, just a cramp in my finger, but I couldn't do anything. Now I'm wondering...can I do magic on myself at all? Would I be able to heal myself if I was hurt?"

Ryou shook his head unsurely. "I don't know. I don't know any magic where you would use it on yourself. Most of mine focuses on influencing other people. You might want to ask someone else who practices healing magic, or can summon Umbra or Lux." Ryou remembered something. "Hey, what about that witch Elenora mentioned? The healer, who lived near Yami's village—maybe she could help you with that?"

Yuugi bit his lip. "I don't really want to go traveling. Atem-"

"What about me?" Said person walked into the room from the kitchen.

Yuugi turned to look at him. "Hey. Ryou said that my old house is in surprisingly good shape. All ready for the next occupant. And he was just talking to me about something. You remember when you said I could practice my magic on you? I was trying to see if I could practice on myself, but so far it hasn't affected me."

"I suggested that he try to find the healer that Elenora mentioned," Ryou said. "So that he can learn more about Lux and how to use it."

Atem raised an eyebrow at Yuugi. "That's not such a bad idea. But why'd you mention me?"

"I didn't want to force you to go see some random witch when we just got back to your house," Yuugi admitted.

Atem laughed. "We've been over this. I already told you I'd follow you where ever you go. If you want to find a teacher, I wouldn't object at all. And who knows, it may turn out for the better if you do. You could learn some new things."

Yuugi shook his head. "You guys aren't going to drop it, are you?" After an overly cheerful "Nope!" from both Ryou and Atem, Yuugi gave in. "Fine. Let's head back to Yami's house and ask my mom about it."

* * *

Ellen listened to Yuugi's decision and smiled in approval. "Are you sure you want to go?" she checked. When Yuugi nodded, she continued, "Then I'll make sure to give you directions so you can get there."

"What about you, Marik?" Atem suddenly asked. "You're looking for a teacher, right? Would you want to travel with us?"

Marik shook his head. "Sorry, guys, but that's a light witch. I would need a dark teacher."

"You could just travel with us for a little while," Yuugi suggested. "If you find someone on the way there, you could leave with them. If you don't, you could continue on your own. Would it really hurt to travel with us for just a bit?"

Marik thought over it and wavered. "Fine. I was planning on leaving in a few days. We can keep that time and be ready to travel then."

"Wait," Ellen said. "Is Ryou going too?"

Ryou nodded and explained, "But just for the trip. By the time they get there, I'll head back here on my own."

"As long as you're all careful," Ellen fretted. "You and Marik are as much my boys as Yuugi is. And you too, Atem," she added. "Don't get into to much trouble."

"Mom, we haven't left yet," Yuugi reminded her. "And we will be careful."

"Okay." She smiled. "I'll stop."

Yami walked into the room and saw them all standing there. He looked around nervously. "Was I not invited to something?"

Yuugi grinned. "We were talking about me going to look for the witch my mom met near where you lived. Since she can use Lux, we thought it would be a good idea for her to teach me more about it. Marik is going to travel with us until he finds a teacher, and Ryou just wanted to come along."

Yami nodded approvingly. "That's good. You would need a light teacher as well. Just make sure you're-"

"Careful, we will be," Yuugi laughed. "Oh, and I'd meant to ask. Is there any magic you can use directly on yourself?"

Yami frowned. "I...don't think so, actually. I've never learned any magic where you would, at least."

He looked at Ellen, who shrugged. "Me neither. Make sure you ask the witch about that when you all get there. Oh, we need to pack for the rest of you now, too!"

"We'll do it ourselves," Yuugi assured her. "Why don't we rest first?"

"How many rooms do you have in here?" Atem asked Yami.

"One main bedroom, and a guest room," he answered. "How many over at your house?"

"Same, actually," Atem admitted. "So...um..."

"Well, if Ellen and I pair up, and so do you and Yuugi, that's perfect then," Yami said.

"Are you okay with me and Atem sleeping in the same bed?" Yuugi asked.

Ellen looked surprised. "You said you've been staying at his house. You're saying you haven't slept in his bed?"

Yuugi gaped, blushing profusely. Atem turned his head and coughed. "Um..."

Yami and Ellen burst out laughing. Yami caught his breath first. "We assumed you would have. But your faces..." He took a deep breath and said, "Besides, it was either you two together or Ryou and Marik."

Ryou and Marik looked warily at each other and shook their heads. "No," they said in unison.

Atem chuckled. "This arrangement works, I suppose." He put an arm around Yuugi and looked at the other pair.

Ryou walked over with a shrug. "I'm already familiar with the house," he said. "I may as well sleep over there." Atem nodded, and the three left.

* * *

Atem showed Ryou to the guest bedroom, where he settled down for the night. He quickly fell asleep.

Yuugi had immediately chosen his side of the bed, and lay there, still. Atem assumed he was already sleeping. Atem changed out of his clothes and seemed to be debating about whether or not to take off his shirt. He finally shrugged and took it off, climbing in bed next to Yuugi.

After a while of silence, Yuugi whispered, "Atem? Are you still awake?"

Atem rolled over and yawned. "No, sorry. Try again in the morning." He opened one eye. "Do you need something?"

Yuugi blushed. "No. I was just wondering. Sorry I woke you."

"It's fine," Atem assured him. After neither said anything for some time, Atem spoke up again. "Are you nervous? About going to find that witch?" he guessed.

Yuugi exhaled loudly. "Yeah," he admitted. He explained why. "Remember when we asked if she'd mentioned Umbra when she talked to my mom? She didn't even want to talk about it. How will she react to a dark _and_ light witch?" Yuugi laughed bitterly. "I'll even be an outcast among outcasts."

Atem reached out and grabbed Yuugi's hand. "It will be fine," he promised. "You're different, but a good different. Besides, how could anyone _not_ love you?"

Yuugi smiled, feeling the knot in his stomach loosen, if only slightly. "Thank you," he said quietly, squeezing Atem's hand.

Atem smiled. "Anytime."

Yuugi moved closer and fell asleep with his head on Atem's chest. He didn't know what would happen when they left, or how anyone would react to him being what he was. But he did know that, whatever he faced, he wouldn't have to do it alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the following note is copied directly from the ff.net version of the story:
> 
> "Hello all! As most of you know, I took quite a long break from fanfiction a while back. Now, I am back once more! Kinda! I edited the entirety of Heavenly Witch, trying to keep the writing consistent with my old style while simultaneously correcting any errors (grammar, continuity, etc) I found. I didn't really change much overall - I even kept in the author's notes, as much as it pained me to do so. Looking back, I actually do like where I ended this story. Downside: I will not be writing a sequel.
> 
> However! Anyone else is welcome to. If you would like to write a sequel to Heavenly Witch, let me know! [AO3 edit: Anyone is welcome to, and it will be listed as a 'story inspired by this one.']
> 
> I don't remember much of what I'd had planned for the sequel. I do think, however, that I would have split it off into two separate perspectives.
> 
> On the way to the village to find the witch to teach them about Lux, Yuugi and Co. run across a thief that rubs Ryou the wrong way from the get-go. After a bit of that fun stuff called character development, Ryou comes to understand and even like this 'Akefia.' They don't make it to the village with the other three, branching off from the group and doing whatever it is that gay boys with cute white hair do. (Not sure what happens with them, honestly; gemshipping, Ryou trying to reform the self-proclaimed Thief King, probably lots of sex jokes.)
> 
> In the village, they meet the witch who will teach Yuugi all that she knows. But, bummer, this Vivian chick is hella homophobic. Marik whips her ass (not literally, just kinda tells her off), but he does use a bit of magic. They think this will draw the wrong sort of attention, but soon discover that the village is full of all different kinds of people-dark witches, light witches, "neutral" witches (who can use lesser forms of both dark and light magic), and normal humans. They also discover that no one liked that batty old woman, anyway.
> 
> Here, Marik finds a teacher (not sure who). The villagers at first think that Yuugi is a neutral witch, but when they discover that he can call Umbra and Lux, they kind of collectively say "hey, that's weird! please leave." However, they quickly retract their statement when Yuugi heals a young disabled child (blind/deaf/mute/lame/etc.) They get the two strongest witches, one dark and one neutral, to teach this Yuugi how to wield both aspects of his magic.
> 
> Who are these people? Who is Marik's teacher? Will Ryou remember to go back to Elenora and Yami? Will there be sex scenes?-(haha, probably; y'all always want sex scenes.) And, most importantly, what will the main conflict be?
> 
> All of the afore mentioned information, plus a conflict which Yuugi probably solves with a shadow game, and then Yuugi & Atem and Ryou & Akefia are all happy together (Marik is probably single and honestly just sleeps around with whoever) and bam - you've got your story!
> 
> So yeah! That's what I'd had planned, but you by no means have to follow it. This is your sequel! Write it however it comes to you!
> 
> Let me know if you plan to write a sequel, and please credit/reference Heavenly Witch as the prequel. In your sequel, all I ask is that you 1) keep the blindshipping, and 2) keep the Japanese names. Other than that, it's up to you! The above mentioned info just has my vague ideas, but since I'm giving up the right to a sequel, none of it has to be included in your story.
> 
> I will add all the information in regards to the sequel(s) here, so be sure to check back here if you want to read it/them!
> 
> Have a good day!"
> 
> remember: any questions, contact me here, ff.net, or on tumblr (eatreadandsleeprepeat).


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